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Rollo  in  Scotland 


BY 

JACOB  ABBOTT 


CHICAGO 

UNION  SCHOOL  FURNISHING  CO. 

PUBLISHERS 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.    The  Boy  that  was  not  Loaded 5 

II.    Districts  of  Scotland 21 

III.  Arrival  at  Glasgow 31 

IV.  The  Expedition  Planned 42 

V.     Down  the  Clyde 48 

VI.    Walks  about  Glasgow 55 

VII.    Entering  the  Highlands 61 

VIII.    Rowerdennan  Inn 71 

IX.    The  Tour  of  the  Trossachs 87 

X.    Stirling 96 

XI.    Loch  Leven 107 

XII.     Edinburgh 126 

XIII.  The  Palace  of  Holyrood 141 

XIV.  Queen  Mary's  Apartments 151 

XV.    Edinburgh  Castle 161 

XVI.    Conclusion ,,,,,,.,,,, 168 


1  »   m  l^*-» 


r 


PRINCIPAL  PERSONS  OF  THE  STORY. 

Rollo  :  twelve  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday:  Rollo' s  father  and  mother,  trav  • 

eling  in  Europe. 
Thanny  :  Rollo's  younger  brother. 
Jane:  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday. 
Mr.  George:  a  young  gentleman,  Rollo's  uncle. 


ROLLO  IN   SCOTLAND. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  BOY  THAT  WAS  NOT  LOADED. 

In  the  course  of  his  travels  in  Europe,  Rollo 
went  with  his  uncle  George  one  summer  to 
spend  a  fortnight  in  Scotland. 

There  are  several  ways  of  going  into  Scot- 
land from  England.  One  way  is  to  take  a 
steamer  from  Liverpool,  and  go  up  the  Clyde 
to  Glasgow.  This  was  the  route  that  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  took.  On  the  way  from 
Liverpool  to  Glasgow,  Rollo  became  acquainted 
with  a  boy  named  Waldron  Kennedy.  Wal- 
dron  was  traveling  with  his  father  and  mother 
and  two  sisters.  His  sisters  were  mild  and 
gentle  girls,  and  always  kept  near  their 
mother;  but  Waldron  seemed  to  be  always  get- 
ting into  difficulty,  or  mischief.  He  was  just 
about  Rollo' s  age,  but  was  a  little  taller.  He 
was  a  very  strong  boy,  and  full  of  life  and 
spirits.  He  was  very  venturesome,  too,  and 
he  was  continually  frightening  his  mother  by 
getting  himself  into,  what  seemed  to  her,  dan- 
gerous situations.  One  morning,  when  she 
came  up  on  deck,  just  after  the  steamer  entered 
the  mouth  of  the  Clyde,  she  almost  fainted 
5 


6  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

away  at  seeing  Waldron  half  way  up  the 
shrouds.  He  was  poising  himself  there  on  one 
of  the  ratlines,  resting  upon  one  foot,  and 
holding  on  with  only  one  hand. 

To  prevent  his  doing  such  things,  Waldron's 
mother  kept  him  under  the  closest  possible 
restraint,  and  would  hardly  let  him  go  away 
from  her  side.  She  watched  him,  too,  very 
closely  all  the  time,  and  worried  him  with  per- 
petual cautions.  It  was  always,  "Waldron, 
don't  do  this,"  or,  "Waldron,  you  must  not  do 
that,"  or,  "Waldron,  don't  go  there."  This 
confinement  made  Waldron  very  restless  and 
uneasy;  so  that,  on  the  whole,  both  he  himself 
and  his  mother,  too,  had  a  very  uncomfortable 
time  of  it. 

"He  worries  my  life  out  of  me,"  she  used  to 
say,  "and  spoils  all  the  pleasure  of  my  tour. 
O,  if  he  were  only  a  girl!" 

Mr.  George  had  been  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Kennedy  and  his  family  in  New  York,  and 
they  were  all  very  glad  to  meet  him  on  board 
the  steamer. 

On  the  morning  after  the  steamer  entered 
the  mouth  of  the  Clyde,  Mrs.  Kennedy  and  her 
daughters  were  sitting  on  a  settee  upon  the 
deck,  with  books  in  their  hands.  From  time  to 
time  they  read  in  these  books,  and  in  the 
intervals  they  looked  at  the  scenery.  Waldron 
stood  near  them,  leaning  in  a  listless  manner 
on  the  railing.  Rollo  came  up  to  the  place, 
and  accosted  Waldron,  sa)nng: 

"Come,  Waldron;  come  with  me." 

"Hush!"  said  Waldron,  in  a  whisper.   "You 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  7 

go  out  there  by  the  paddle  box  and  wait  a  mo- 
ment, till  my  mother  begins  to  look  on  her 
book  again, and  then  I'll  steal  away  and  come." 

But  Rollo  never  liked  to  obtain  anything  by 
tricks  and  treachery,  and  so  he  turned  to  Mrs. 
Kennedy,  and,  in  a  frank  and  manly  manner, 
said: 

"Mrs.  Kennedy,  may  Waldron  go  away  with 
me  a  little  while?" 

"Why,  I  am  afraid,  Rollo,"  said  Mrs.  Ken- 
nedy. "He  always  gets  into  some  mischief  or 
other  the  moment  he  is  out  of  my  sight. " 

"O,  we  shall  be  under  my  uncle  George's 
care,"  said  Rollo.  "I  am  going  out  there 
where  he  is  sitting. " 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Kennedy,  hesitating,  and 
looking  very  timid — "well,  Waldron  may  go  a 
little  while.  But,  Waldron,  you  must  be  sure 
and  stay  by  Mr.  George,  or,  at  least,  not  go 
anywhere  without  his  leave." 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "I  will." 

So  he  and  Rollo  went  away,  and  walked  leis- 
urely toward  the  place  where  Mr.  George  was 
sitting. 

"I  am  glad  we  are  coming  up  this  river,  to 
Greenock  and  Glasgow,"  said  Waldron. 

"Why?"  asked  Rollo. 

"Because  of  the  steamboats,"  said  Waldron. 

"Do  they  build  a  great  many  steamboats  in 
Greenock  and  Glasgow?"  asked  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron;  "this  is  the,  greatest 
place  for  building  steamboats  in  the  world." 

"Except  New  York,"  said  Rollo. 

"O,  of  course,  except  New  York, "  replied 


8  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

Waldron.  "But  they  build  all  the  big  English 
steamers  in  this  river.  All  the  Cunarders  were 
built  here,  and  they  have  got  some  of  the  best 
machine  shops  and  foundries  here  that  there 
are  in  the  world.  I  should  like  to  go  all  about 
and  see  them,  if  I  could  only  get  away  from 
my  mother. " 

"Why,  won't  she  let  you  go?"  asked  Rollo. 

"No,"  replied  Waldron,  "not  if  she  knows 
it.  She  thinks  I  am  a  little  boy,  and  is  so 
afraid  that  I  shall  get  hurt." 

Waldron  pronounced  the  word  hurt  in  a 
drawling  and  contemptuous  tone,  which  was 
so  comical  that  Rollo  could  not  help  laughing 
outright. 

"I  go  to  all  the  ship  yards  and  foundries  in 
New  York  whenever  I  please,"  continued  Wal- 
dron. "I  go  when  she  does  not  know  it.  Some- 
times the  men  let  me  help  them  carry  out  the 
melted  iron,  and  pour  it  into  the  moulds." 

By  this  time  the  two  boys  had  reached  the 
place  where  Mr.  George  was.  He  was  sitting 
on  what  is  called  a  camp  stool,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  reading  his  guide  book,  and  studying 
the  map,  with  a  view  of  finding  out  what  route 
it  would  be  best  to  take  in  the  tour  they  were 
about  making  in  Scotland.  Mr.  George  drew 
the  boys  into  conversation  with  him  on  the 
subject.  His  object  was  to  become  acquainted 
with  Waldron  and  find  out  what  sort  of  a  boy 
he  was. 

"Where  do  you  wish  to  go,  Waldron?"  said 
Mr.  George. 

"Why,  I  want  to  stay  here  a  good  many 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  9 

days,"  said  Waldron,  "to  see  the  steamers  and 
the  dockyards.  They  are  building  a  monstrous 
iron  ship,  somewhere  here.  She  is  going  to  be 
five  hundred  tons  bigger  than  the  Baltic." 

"I  should  like  to  see  her,"  said  Mr.  George. 

As  he  said  his  he  kept  his  eye  upon  his  map, 
following  his -finger,  as  he  moved  it  about  from 
place  to  place,  as  if  he  was  studying  out  a 
good  way  to  go. 

"There  is  Edinburgh,"  said  Mr.  George; 
"we  must  certainly  go  to  Edinburgh." 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  *GI  suppose  that  is  a 
pretty  great  place.  Besides,  I  want  to  see  the 
houses  twelve  stories  high. ' ' 

"And  there  is  Linlithgow,"  continued  Mr. 
George,  still  looking  upon  his  map.  "That  is 
the  place  where  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  was 
born.     Waldron,  would  you  like  to  go  there?" 

"Why,  no,"  said  Waldron,  doubtfully,  "not 
much.     I  don't  care  much  about  that." 

"It  is  a  famous  old  ruin,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"But  I  don't  care  much  about  the  old  ruins," 
said  Waldron.  "If  the  lords  and  noblemen  are 
as  rich  as  people  say  they  are,  I  should  think 
they  would  mend  them  up." 

"And  here,  off  in  the  western  part  of  Scot- 
land," continued  Mr.  George,  "are  a  great 
many  mountains.  Would  you  like  to  go  and 
see  the  mountains?" 

"No,  sir,"  said  Waldron,  "not  particularly." 
Then  in  a  moment  he  added,  "Can  we  go  up 
to  the  top  of  them,  Mr.  George?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "we  can  go  to  the 
top  of  some  of  them." 


10  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"The  highest?"  asked  Waldron. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "Ben  Nevis,  I  be- 
lieve, is  the  highest.  We  can  go  to  the  top  of 
that." 

"Then  I  should  like  to  go,"  said  Waldron, 
eagerly. 

"Unless,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "it  should 
rain  too  hard." 

"O,  I  should  not  care  for  the  rain,"  said 
Waldron.     "It's  good  fun  to  go  in  the  rain." 

While  this  conversation  had  been  going  on, 
Waldron  had  been  looking  this  way  and  that, 
at  the  various  ships  and  steamers  that  were 
gliding  about  on  the  water,  examining  care- 
fully the  building  of  each  one,  and  watching 
her  motions.  He  now  proposed  that  Rollo 
should  go  forward  to  the  bridge  with  him, 
where  they  could  have  a  better  lookout. 

"Well,"  said  Rollo.  So  the  two  boys  went 
together  to  the  bridge. 

The  bridge  was  a  sort  of  narrow  platform, 
extending  across  the  steamer,  from  one  paddle 
wheel  to  the  other,  for  the  captain  or  pilot  to 
walk  upon,  in  order  to  see  how  the  steamer 
was  going,  and  to  direct  the  steering.  When 
they  are  in  the  open  sea  any  of  the  passengers 
are  allowed  to  walk  here ;  but  in  coming  into 
port,  or  into  a  river  crowded  with  shipping, 
then  a  notice  is  put  up  requesting  passengers 
not  to  go  upon  the  bridge,  inasmuch  as  at  such 
times  it  is  required  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
captain  and  pilot. 

This  notice  was  up  when  Waldron  and  Rollo 
reached  the  bridge. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  11 

"See,"  said  Rollo,  pointing  at  the  notice. 
"We  cannot  go  there." 

"O,  never  mind  that,"  said  Waldron. 
"They'll  let  us  go.  They  only  mean  that  they 
don't  want  too  many  there — that's  all." 

But  Rollo  would  not  go.  Mr.  George  had 
accustomed  him,  in  traveling  about  the  world, 
always  to  obey  all  lawful  rules  and  orders,  and 
particularly  every  direction  of  this  kind  which 
he  might  find  in  public  places.  Some  people 
are  very  much  inclined  to  crowd  upon  the  line 
of  such  rules,  and  even  to  encroach  upon  them 
till  they  actually  encounter  somer  esistance  to 
drive  them  back.  They  do  this  partly  to  show 
their  independence  and  importance.  But  Mr. 
George  was  not  one  of  this  sort. 

So  Rollo  would  not  go  upon  the  bridge. 

"Then  let  us  go  out  on  the  forceastle,"  said 
Waldron.  He  pointed,  as  he  spoke,  to  the 
forecastle,  which  is  a  small  raised  deck  at  the 
bows  of  a  steamer,  where  there  is  an  excellent 
place  to  see. 

"No, "  said  Rollo,  "I  will  not  go  on  the  fore- 
castle either.  Uncle  George's  rule  for  me  on 
board  ship  is,  that  I  may  go  where  I  see  other 
gentlemanly  passengers  go,  and  nowhere  else. 
The  passengers  do  not  go  on  the  forecastle. " 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "there  are  some  there 
now. ' ' 

"There  is  only  one,"  said  Rollo,  "and  he  has 
no  business  there. " 

During  the  progress  of  this  conversation  the 
boys  had  sat  down  upon  the  upper  step  of  a 
steep    flight  of    stairs,    which    led  from   the 


12  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

promenade  deck  to  the  main  deck.  They  could 
see  pretty  well  where  they  were,  but  not  so 
well,  Waldron  thought,  as  they  could  have 
seen  from  the  forecastle. 

"I  think  we  might  go  on  the  forecastle  as 
well  as  not,"  said  Waldron,  "even  according  to 
your  own  rule.  For  there  is  a  passenger 
there." 

"I  think  it  is  doubtful,"  said  Rollo. 

"Well,"  said  Waldron,  "we'll  call  it  doubt- 
ful.    We  will  draw  lots  for  it. ' ' 

So  saying,  Waldron  put  his  hand  in  his 
pocket,  and,  after  fumbling  about  there  a  min- 
ute or  two,  took  it  out,  and  held  it  before  Rollo 
with  his  fingers  shut,  so  that  Rollo  could  not 
see  what  was  in  it. 

"Odd  or  even?"  said  Waldron. 

Rollo  looked  at  the  closed  hand,  with  a  smile 
of  curiosity  on  his  face,  but  he  did  not  an- 
swer. 

"Say  odd  or  even, "  continued  Waldron."If 
you  hit,  that  will  prove  that  you  are  right, 
and  we  will  not  go  to  the  forecastle ;  but  if  you 
miss,  then  we  will  go. " 

Rollo  hesitated  a  moment,  not  being  quite 
sure  that  this  was  a  proper  way  of  deciding  a 
question  of  right  and  wrong.  In  a  moment, 
however,  he  answered,  "Even." 

Waldron  opened  his  hand,  and  Rollo  saw 
that  there  was  nothing  in  it. 

"There,"  said  Waldron,  "it  is  odd,  and  you 
said  even." 

"No,"  said  Rollo,  "it  is  not  either  even  or 
odd.     There  is  nothing  at  all  in  your  hand. ' ' 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  13 

"Well,"  said  Waldron,  "nothing  is  a  num- 
ber, and  it  is  odd." 

"O,  Waldron!"  said  Rollo,  "it  is  not  any 
number  at  all.  Besides,  if  it  is  a  number,  it  is 
not  odd — it  is  even. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "it  is  a  number,  for 
you  can  add  it,  and  subtract  it,  and  multiply 
it,  and  divide  it,  just  as  you  can  any  other 
number. ' ' 

"O,  Waldron!"  exclaimed  Rollo  again. 
"You  can't  do  any  such  thing." 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "I  can  add  nothing  to 
one,  and  it  makes  one.  So,  I  can  take  nothing 
away  from  one,  and  it  leaves  one. 

"I  can  multiply  nothing,  too.  I  can  multiply 
it  by  ten.  Ten  times  nothing  are  nothing.  So 
I  can  divide  it.  Five  in  nothing  no  times, 
and  nothing  over." 

Rollo  was  somewhat  perplexed  b}^  this  argu- 
ment, and  he  did  not  know  what  to  reply. 
Still  he  would  not  admit  that  nothing  was  a 
number — still  less  that  it  was  an  odd  number. 
He  did  not  believe,  he  said,  that  it  was  any 
number  at  all.  The  boys  continued  the  dis- 
cussion for  some  time,  and  then  they  con- 
cluded to  go  and  refer  it  to  Mr.  George. 

And  here  I  ought  to  say  that  Waldron  had 
an  artful  design  in  taking  nothing  in  his  hand, 
when  lie  called  upon  Rollo  to  say,  Odd  or 
even.  He  did  it  in  order  that  whatever 
answer  Rollo  might  give,  he  might  attempt 
to  prove  it  wrong.  He  was  a  very  ingenious 
boy,  and  could  as  easily  maintain  that  nothing 
was    even   as  that  it  was  odd.      Whichever 


14  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

Rollo  had  said,  his  plan  was  to  maintain  the 
contrary,  and  so  persuade  him  to  go  to  the 
forecastle. 

Mr.  George  was  very  much  pleased  when 
the  boys  brought  the  question  to  him.  Indeed, 
almost  all  people  are  pleased  when  boys  come 
to  them  in  an  amicable  manner,  to  have  their 
controversies  settled.  Then,  besides,  he  in- 
ferred from  the  nature  of  the  question  that  had 
arisen  in  this  case,  that  Waldron  was  a  boy  of 
considerable  thinking  powers,  or  else  he 
would  not  have  taken  any  interest  in  a  purely 
intellectual  question  like  this. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  is  quite  a 
curious  question.  But  before  I  decide  it  you 
must  first  both  of  you  give  me  your  reasons. 
What  makes  you  think  nothing  is  an  odd  num- 
ber, Waldron?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Waldron,  hesitating. 
"I  think  it  looks  kind  of  odd." 

Mr.  George  smiled  at  this  reason,  and  then 
asked  Rollo  what  made  him  think  it  was  an 
even  number. 

"I  don't  think  it  is  an  even  number,"  said 
Rollo.   "I  don't  think  it  is  any  number  at  all." 

"However,"  continued  Rollo,  "that  is  not 
the  real  question,  after  all.  The  real  question 
is,  whether  we  shall  go  on  the  forecastle  or 
not,  to  have  a  lookout. " 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "it  is  not  according 
to  etiquette  at  sea  for  the  passengers  to  go  on 
the  forecastle. ' ' 

"But  they  do,"  said  Waldron, 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.   George,  "they  sometimes 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  15 

do,  I  know;  and  sometimes,  under  peculiar 
circumstances,  it  is  right  for  them  to  go ;  but 
as  a  general  rule,  it  is  not.  That  is  the  place 
for  the  sailors  to  occupy  in  working  the  ship. 
It  is  something  like  the  kitchen  in  a  hotel. 
What  should  you  think  of  the  guests  at  a  hotel, 
if  they  went  down  into  the  kitchen  to  see 
what  was  going  on  there?" 

Rollo  laughed  aloud. 

"But  we  don't  go  to  the  forecastle  to  see 
what  is  going  on  there,"  said  Waldron;  "we 
go  for  a  lookout — to  see  what  is  going  on  away 
ahead,  on  the  water." 

"True,"  said  Mr.  George,  "and  that  is  a 
very  important  difference,  I  acknowledge.  I 
don't  think  my  comparison  holds  good." 

Mr.  George  was  always  very  candid  in  all  his 
arguing.  It  is  of  very  great  importance  that 
all  persons  should  be  so,  especially  when 
reasoning  with  boys.  It  teaches  them  to  be 
candid. 

Just  at  this  time  Waldron's  attention  was 
attracted  by  the  appearance  of  a  very  large 
steamer,  which  now  came  suddenly  into  view, 
with  its  great  red  funnel  pouring  out  immense 
volumes  of  black  smoke.  Waldron  ran  over  to 
the  other  side  of  the  deck  to  see  it.  Rollo  fol- 
lowed, and  thus  the  explanation  which  Mr. 
George  might  have  given,  in  respect  to  the 
arithmetical  nature  and  relations  of  nothing 
were  necessarily  postponed  to  some  future 
time. 

About  half  an  hour  after  this,  while  Rollo 
was  sitting  by  the  side  of  his  uncle,  looking  at 


16  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

the  map,  and  trying  to  find  out  how  soon  they 
should  come  in  sight  of  the  famous  old  Castle 
of  Dunbarton,  which  stands  on  a  rocky  hill 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  Mr.  Kennedy 
came  up  to  him  to  inquire  if  he  knew  where 
Waldron  was. 

Rollo  said  that  he  did  not  know.  He  had 
not  seen  him  for  some  time. 

"We  can't  find  him  anywhere,"  said  Mr. 
Kennedy.  "We  have  looked  all  over  the  ship. 
His  mother  is  half  crazy.  She  thinks  he  has 
fallen  overboard." 

So  Rollo  and  Mr.  George  both  rose  imme- 
diately and  went  off  to  see  if  they  could  find 
Waldron.  They  went  in  various  directions, 
inquiring  of  everybody  they  met  if  they  had 
seen  such  a  boy.  Several  people  had  seen  him 
half  an  hour  before,  when  he  was  with  Rollo ; 
but  no  one  knew  where  he  had  been  since.  At 
last,  in  about  ten  minutes,  Rollo  came  run- 
ning to  Mrs.  Kennedy,  who  was  walking  about 
through  the  cabins  in  great  distress,  and  said, 
hurriedly,  "I've  found  him;  he  is  safe,"  and 
then  ran  off  to  tell  Mr.  Kennedy. 

Mrs.  Kennedy  followed  him,  calling  out 
eagerly,  "Where  is  he?  Where  is  he?"  Roilo 
met  Mr.  Kennedy  at  the  head  of  the  cabin 
stairs,  and  he  seemed  very  much  rejoiced  to 
learn  that  Waldron  was  found.  Rollo  led  the 
way,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kennedy  followed  him, 
until  they  came  to  a  place  on  the  deck,  pretty 
well  forward,  where  there  was  an  opening  sur- 
rounded by  an  iron  railing,  through  which  you 
could  look  down  into  the  hold  below.     It  was 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  17 

very  far  down  that  you  could  look,  and  at 
different  distances  on  the  way  were  to  be  seen 
iron  ladders  going  from  deck  to  deck,  and  pon- 
derous shafts,  moving  continually,  with  great 
clangor  and  din,  while  at  the  bottom  were  seen 
the  mouths  of  several  great  glowing  furnaces, 
with  men  at  work  shoveling  coal  into  them. 

"There  he  is,"  said  Rollo,  pointing  down. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kennedy  leaned  over  the  rail- 
ing and  looked  down,  and  there  they  beheld 
Waldron,  hard  at  work  shoveling  coal  into  the 
mouth  of  a  furnace,  with  a  shovel  which  he 
had  borrowed  of  one  of  the  men.  In  a  word, 
Waldron  had  turned  stoker. 

Mr.  Kennedy  hurried  down  the  ladders  to 
bring  Waldron  up,  while  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  went  back  on  deck. 

About  an  hour  after  this  Mr.  Kennedy  came 
and  took  a  seat  on  a  settee  where  Mr.  "George 
was  sitting,  and  began  to  talk  about  Waldron. 

"He  is  the  greatest  plague  of  my  life,"  said 
Mr.  Kennedy.  "I  don't  know  what  I  shall 
do  with  him.  He  is  continually  getting  into 
some  mischief.  I  have  shut  him  up  a  close 
prisoner  in  the  state  room,  and  I  am  going  to 
keep  him  there  till  we  land.  But  it  will  do 
no  good.  It  will  not  be  an  hour  after  he  gets 
out  before  he  will  be  in  some  new  scrape. 
You  know  a  great  deal  about  boys;  I  wish 
you  would  tell  me  what  to  do  with  him." 

"I  think,  if  he  was  under  my  charge,"  said 
Mr.  George,  very  quietly,  "I  should  load 
him." 

2   Scotland 


18  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"Load  him?"  repeated  Mr.  Kennedy,  inquir- 
ingly. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  mean  I  should 
give  him  a  load  to  carry. ' ' 

"I  don't  understand,  exactly,"  said  Mr. 
Kennedy.     "What  is  your  idea?" 

"My  idea  is,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  a 
growing  boy,  especially  if  he  is  a  boy  of  un- 
usual capacity,  is  like  a  steam  engine  in  this 
respect.  A  steam  engine  must  always  have 
a  load  to  carry, — that  is,  something  to  employ 
and  absorb  the  force  it  is  capable  of  exerting, 
— or  else  it  will  break  itself  to  pieces  with  it. 
The  force  will  expend  itself  on  something,  and 
if  you  don't  load  it  with  something  good,  it 
will  employ  itself  in  mischief." 

"Here  now  is  the  engine  of  this  ship,"  con- 
tinued Mr.  George.  "Its  force  is  conducted  to 
the  paddle-wheels,  where  it  has  full  employ- 
ment for  itself  in  turning  the  wheels  against 
the  immense  resistance  of  the  water,  and  in 
carrying  the  ship  along.  This  work  is  its 
load.  If  this  load  were  to  be  taken  off, — for 
example,  if  the  steamer  were  to  be  lifted  up 
out  of  the  water,  so  that  the  wheels  could 
spin  round  in  the  air, — the  engine  would  im- 
mediately stave  itself  into  pieces,  for  want  of 
having  anything  else  to  expend  its  energies 
upon." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Kennedy.  "I  have  no 
doubt  of  it." 

"Now,  I  think,"  continued  Mr.  George, 
"that  it  is  in  some  sense  the  same  with  a  boy 
whose  mental  and  physical  powers  are  in  good 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  19 

condition.  These  powers  must  be  employed. 
They  hunger  and  thirst  for  employment,  and 
if  they  don't  get  it  in  doing  good  they  will  be 
sure  to  find  it  in  some  kind  of  mischief. " 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Kennedy,  with  a  sigh, 
"there  is  a  great  deal  in  that;  but  what  is  to 
be  done?  You  can't  employ  such  a  boy  as 
that.  There  is  nothing  he  can  do.  I  wish 
you  would  take  him,  and  see  if  you  can  load 
him,  as  you  call  it.  Take  him  with  you  on  this 
tour  you  are  going  to  make  in  Scotland.  I 
will  put  the  money  in  your  hands  to  cover  his 
expenses,  and  you  may  charge  anything  you 
please  beyond,  for  your  care  of  him." 

"Perhaps  his  mother  would  not  like  such  an 
arrangement,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"O,  yes,"  replied  Mr.  Kennedy;  "nothing 
would  please  her  more." 

"And  would  Waldron  like  it  himself?"  asked 
Mr.  George. 

"I  presume  so,"  said  Mr.  Kennedy;  "he 
likes  anything  that  is  a  change." 

Mr.  Kennedy  went  down  to  the  state  room 
to  see  Waldron,  and  ask  him  what  he  thought 
of  this  plan.  Waldron  said  he  should  like  it 
very  much.  So  he  was  at  once  liberated  from 
his  confinement,  and  transferred  to  Mr. 
George's  charge. 

"Now,  Waldron,"  said  Mr.  George,  when 
Waldron  came  to  him,  "I  shall  want  some  help 
from  you  about  getting  ashore  from  the  boat. 
Do  you  think  you  could  go  ashore  with  Rollo 
as  soon  as  we  land,  and  take  a  cab  and  go 
directly  up  to  the  hotel,  and  engage  rooms  for 


20  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

us,  while  I  am  looking  out  for  the  baggage, 
and  getting  it  ready?" 

"Yes,  sir;  yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron,  eagerly. 
"I  can  do  that.     What  hotel  shall  I  go  to?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  don't 
know  anything  about  the  hotels  in  Glasgow. 
You  must  find  out." 

"Well,"  said  "Waldron,  "only  how  shall  I 
find  out?" 

"I  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"I  leave  it  all  to  you  and  Rollo.  I  am  busy 
forming  my  plans  for  a  tour.  You  and  Rollo 
can  go  and  talk  about  it,  and  see  if  you  can 
discover  any  way  of  finding  out  the  name  of 
one  of  the  best  hotels.  If  you  can't,  after  try- 
ing fifteen  minutes,  come  to  me,  and  I  will  help 
you." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  began  to  study  his 
map  again,  and  Waldron,  apparently  much 
pleased  with  his  commission,  said,  "Come. 
Rollo, ' '  and  walked  away. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  21 


CHAPTER    II. 

DISTRICTS   OF    SCOTLAND. 

I  think  that  Mr.  George  was  quite  right  in 
his  idea,  that  the  true  remedy  for  the  spirit  of 
restlessness  and  mischief  that  Waldron  mani- 
fested was  to  employ  him,  or,  as  he  metaphor- 
ically termed  it,  to  load  him.  And  as  this 
volume  will,  perhaps,  fall  into  the  hands  of 
many  parents  as  well  as  children,  I  will  here 
remark  that  a  great  many  good-hearted  and 
excellent  boys  fall  into  the  same  difficulty  from 
precisely  the  same  cause;  namely,  that  they 
have  not  adequate  employment  for  their  men- 
tal and  physical  powers,  which  are  growing 
and  strengthening  every  day,  and  are  hunger- 
ing and  thirsting  for  the  means  and  opportu- 
nities of  expending  their  energies. 

Parents  are  seldom  aware  how  fast  their 
children  are  growing  and  increasing  in 
strength,  both  of  body  and  mind.  The  evi- 
dences of  this  growth,  in  respect  to  the  limbs 
and  muscles  of  the  body,  are,  indeed,  obvious 
to  the  eye ;  and  as  the  growth  advances,  we 
have  continual  proof  of  the  pleasure  which 
the  exercise  of  these  powers  gives  to  the  pos- 
sessor of  them.  The  active  and  boisterous 
plays  of  boys  derive  their  chief  charm  from  the 
pleasure  they  feel   in   testing  and  exercising 


22  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

their  muscular  powers  in  every  way.  They  are 
always  running,  and  leaping,  and  wrestling, 
and  pursuing  each  other,  and  pushing  each 
other,  and  climbing  up  to  high  places,  and 
standing  on  their  heads,  and  walking  on  the 
tops  of  fences,  and  performing  all  other  possi- 
ble or  conceivable  feats,  which  may  give  them 
the  pleasure  of  working,  in  new  and  untried 
ways,  their  muscular  machinery,  and  feeling 
its  increasing  power,  and  in  producing  new 
effects  by  means  of  it.  They  get  themselves 
into  continual  difficulties  and  dangers  by  these 
things,  and  cause  themselves  a  great  deal  of 
suffering.  Still  they  go  on,  for  the  intoxicat- 
ing delight  of  using  their  powers,  or,  rather, 
the  irresistible  instinct  which  impels  them  to 
use  them,  has  greater  force  with  them  than  all 
other  considerations. 

We  see  all  this  very  plainly  in  respect  to  the 
action  of  the  limbs  and  organs  of  the  body; 
for  it  is  palpably  evident  to  our  senses,  and  we 
feel  the  necessity  of  providing  safe  and  proper 
modes  of  expending  these  energies.  Since 
we  find,  for  example,  that  boys  must  kick  some- 
thing, we  give  them  a  football  to  kick ;  which, 
being  a  mere  ball  of  wind,  may  be  kicked 
without  doing  any  harm.  And  so  with  almost 
all  the  other  playthings  and  sports  which  are 
devised  for  boys,  or  which  they  devise  for 
themselves.  They  are  the  means,  simply,  of 
enabling  them  to  employ  their  growing 
powers  and  expand  their  energies,  without 
doing  anybody  any  harm.    We  know  very  well 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  23 

that  it  is  not  safe  to  leave  these  powers  and 
energies  unemployed. 

But  we  are  very  apt  to  forget  that  there  are 
powers  and  faculties  of  the  mind,  equally 
vigorous,  and  equally  eager  to  be  exercised, 
that  ought  also  to  be  provided  for.  The 
strength  of  the  will,  the  power  of  exercising 
judgment  and  discretion,  the  spirit  of  enter- 
prise, the  love  of  command,  and  other  such 
mental  impulses,  are  growing  and  strength- 
ening every  day,  in  every  healthy  boy,  and  they 
are  all  clamorous  for  employment.  The  in- 
stinct that  impels  them  is  so  strong  that  they 
will  find  employment  in  some  way  or  other  for 
themselves,  unless  an  occupation  is  otherwise 
provided  for  them.  A  very  large  proportion 
of  the  acts  of  mischievousness  and  wrong 
which  boys  commit  arise  from  this  cause. 
Even  boys  who  are  bad  enough  to  form  a  mid- 
night scheme  for  robbing  an  orchard,  are  influ- 
enced mainly  in  perpetrating  the  deed,  not  by 
the  pleasure  of  eating  the  apples  which  they 
expect  to  obtain  by  it,  but  by  the  pleasure  of 
forming  a  scheme,  of  contriving  ways  and 
means  of  surmounting  difficulties,  of  watching 
against  surprises,  of  braving  dangers,  of  suc- 
cessfully attaining  to  a  desired  end  over  and 
through  a  succession  of  obstacles  interposing. 
This  view  of  the  case  does  not  show  that  such 
deeds  are  right ;  it  only  shows  the  true  nature 
of  the  wrong  involved  in  them,  and  helps  us 
in  discovering  and  applying  the  remedy. 

At  least  this  was  Mr.  George's  view  of  the 
case  in  respect  to  Waldron,    when  he  heard 


24  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

how  often  he  was  getting  into  difficulty  by  his 
adventurous  and  restless  character.  He 
thought  that  the  remedy  was,  as  he  expressed 
it,  to  load  him ;  that  is,  to  give  to  the  active 
and  enterprising  spirit  of  his  mind  something 
to  expend  his  energies  upon.  It  required 
great  tact  and  discretion,  and  great  knowledge 
of  the  habits  and  characteristics  of  boyhood,  to 
enable  him  to  do  this ;  but  Mr.  George  pos- 
sessed these  qualities  in  a  high  degree. 

But  to  return  to  the  story. 

Mr.  George  had  decided  on  coming  into 
Scotland  from  Liverpool  by  water,  because 
that  was  the  cheapest  way  of  getting  into  the 
heart  of  the  country.  And  here,  in  order  that 
you  may  understand  the  course  of  Rollo's 
travels,  I  must  pause  to  explain  the  leading 
geographical  features  of  the  country.  If  you 
read  this  explanation  carefully,  you  will  under- 
stand the  subsequent  narrative  much  better 
than  you  otherwise  would  do. 

You  will  see,  then,  that  Scotland  is  separated 
from  England  by  two  rivers  which  flow  from 
the  interior  of  the  country  into  the  sea — one 
toward  the  east,  and  the  other  toward  the 
west.  The  one  on  the  east  side  is  the  Tweed. 
The  Tweed  forms  the  frontier  between  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  for  a  considerable  distance, 
and  is,  therefore,  often  spoken  of  as  the 
boundary  between  the  two  countries.  Indeed, 
the  phrase  "beyond  the  Tweed"  is  often  used 
in  England  to  denote  Scotland.  In  former 
times,  when  England  and  Scotland  were  inde- 
pendent kingdoms,  incessant  wars  were  carried 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  25 

on  across  this  border,  and  incursions  were 
made  by  the  chieftains  from  each  realm  into 
the  territories  of  the  other,  and  castles  were 
built  on  many  commanding  points  to  defend 
the  ground.  The  ruins  of  many  of  these  old 
castles  still  remain. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  island  the  bound- 
ary between  England  and  Scotland  is  formed 
by  a  very  wide  river,  or  rather  river's  mouth, 
called  Solway  Frith.  Between  this  Solway 
Frith  and  the  Tweed,  the  boundary  which 
separates  the  two  countries  runs  along  the 
summit  of  a  range  of  hills.  This  range  of  hills 
thus  forms  a  sort  of  neck  of  high  land,  which 
prevents  the  Tweed  and  the  Solway  Frith 
from  cutting  Scotland  off  from  England  alto- 
gether, and  making  a  separate  island  of  it. 

About  seventy  or  eighty  miles  to  the  north- 
ward of  the  boundary  the  land  is  almost  cut 
in  two  again  by  two  other  rivers,  with  broad 
mouths,  which  rise  pretty  near  together  in  the 
interior  of  the  country,  and  flow — one  to  the 
east  and  the  other  to  the  west — into  the  two 
seas. 

These  rivers  are  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde. 

The  Forth  flows  to  the  east,  and  has  a  very 
wide  estuary,  as  you  will  see  by  the  map.  The 
Clyde,  on  the  other  hand,  flows  to  the  west. 
Its  estuary  is  long  and  crooked. 

The  Forth  and  the  Clyde,  with  their  estuar- 
ies, almost  cut  Scotland  in  two;  and  by  means 
of  them  ships  and  steamers  from  all  parts  of 
England  and  from  foreign  ports  are  enabled  to 
come  into  the  very  heart  of  the  country. 


26  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

The  two  largest  and  most  celebrated  cities  in 
Scotland  are  situated  in  the  valleys  of  these 
rivers,  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde.  They  are 
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  Edinburgh  is  on  the 
Forth,  though  situated  at  some  little  distance 
from  its  banks.  Glasgow  is  on  the  Clyde. 
There  is  a  railway  extending  across  from  Edin- 
burgh to  Glasgow,  and  also  a  canal,  connect- 
ing the  waters  of  the  Forth  with  the  Clyde. 
The  region  of  these  cities,  and  of  the  canal  and 
railroad  which  connects  them,  is  altogether  the 
busiest,  the  most  densely  peopled,  and  the 
most  important  portion  of  Scotland ;  and  this 
is  the  reason  why  Mr.  George  wished  to  come 
directly  into  it  by  water  from  Liverpool. 

The  cities  of  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh, 
though  both  greatly  celebrated,  are  celebrated 
in  very  different  ways.  Edinburgh  is  the  city 
of  science,  of  literature,  of  the  arts.  Here 
are  many  learned  institutions,  the  fame  and 
influence  of  which  extend  to  every  part  of  the 
world.  Here  are  great  book  publishing  estab- 
lishments, which  send  forth  millions  of  vol- 
umes every  year — from  ponderous  encyclo- 
paedias of  science,  and  elegantly  illustrated 
and  costly  works  of  art,  down  to  tracts  for  Sab- 
bath-schools, and  picture  books  for  children. 
The  situation  of  Edinburgh  is  very  romantic 
and  beautiful;  the  town  being  built  among 
hills  and  ravines  of  the  most  picturesque  and 
striking  character.  When  Scotland  was  an 
independent  kingdom,  Edinburgh  was  the  cap- 
ital of  it,  and  thus  the  old  palace  of  the  kings 
and  the  royal  castle  are  there,  and  the  town 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  27 

has  been  the  scene  of  some  of  the  most  remark- 
able events  in  the  Scottish  history. 

Glasgow,  on  the  other  hand,  which  is  on  the 
Clyde,  toward  the  western  side  of  the  island, 
together  with  all  the  country  for  many  miles 
around  it,  forms  the  scene  of  the  mechanical 
and  manufacturing  industry  of  Scotland.  The 
whole  district,  in  fact,  is  one  vast  workshop; 
being  full  of  mines,  mills,  forges,  furnaces, 
machine  shops,  ship  yards  and  iron  works, 
with  pipes  every  where  puffing  out  steam,  and 
tall  chimneys,  higher,  some  of  them,  than  the 
Bunker  Hill  Monument,  or  the  steeple  of  Trin- 
ity Church,  in  New  York.  These  tall  chim- 
neys are  seen  rising  everywhere,  all  around 
the  horizon,  and  sending  up  volumes  of  dense 
smoke,  which  comes  pouring  incessantly  from 
their  summits,  and  thence  floating  majestically 
away,  mingles  itself  with  clouds  of  the  sky. 

The  reason  of  this  is,  that  the  strata  of  rocks 
which  lie  beneath  the  ground  in  all  this  region 
consists,  in  a  great  measure,  of  beds  of  coal  and 
of  iron  ore.  The  miners  dig  down  in  almost 
any  spot,  and  find  iron  ore ;  and  very  near  it, 
and  sometimes  in  the  same  pit,  they  find  plenty 
of  coal.  These  pits  are  like  monstrous  wells; 
very  wide  at  the  mouth,  and  extending  down 
four  or  five  times  as  far  as  the  height  of  the 
tallest  steeples,  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
Over  the  mouth  of  the  pit  the  workmen  build 
a  machine,  with  ropes  and  a  monstrous  wheel, 
to  hoist  the  coal  and  iron  up  by,  and  all  around 
they  set  up  furnaces  to  smelt  the  ore  and  turn 
it  into  iron.      Then,  at  suitable  places  in  vari- 


28  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

ous  parts  of  the  country,  they  construct  great 
rolling  mills  and  founderies.  The  rolling  mills 
are  to  turn  the  pig  iron  into  wrought  iron,  and 
to  manufacture  it  into  bars  and  sheets,  and 
rails  for  the  railroads;  and  the  founderies  are 
to  cast  it  into  the  form  of  great  wheels,  and 
cylinders,  and  beams  for  machinery,  or  for  any 
other  purpose  that  may  be  required. 

The  mines  in  the  valley  of  the  Clyde  were 
worked  first  chiefly  for  the  coal,  and  the  coal 
was  used  to  drive  steam  machinery  for  spin- 
ning and  weaving,  and  for  other  manufactur- 
ing purposes.  The  river  was  in  those  days  a 
small  and  insignificant  stream.  It  was  only 
about  five  feet  deep,  so  that  the  vessels  that 
came  to  take  away  the  coal  and  the  manufac- 
tured goods  had  to  stop  near  the  mouth  of  it, 
and  the  cargos  were  brought  down  to  them  in 
boats  and  lighters.  But  in  process  of  time 
they  widened  and  deepened  the  river.  They 
dug  out  the  mud  from  the  bottom  of  it,  and 
built  walls  along  the  banks ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  last  hundred  years,  they  have  improved 
it  so  much  that  now  the  largest  ships  can  come 
quite  up  to  Glasgow.  The  water  is  eighteen 
or  twenty  feet  deep  all  the  may. 

The  Clyde  is  the  river  on  which  steamboats 
were  first  built  in  Great  Britain.  The  man 
who  was  the  first  in  England  or  Scotland  that 
found  a  way  of  making  a  steam  engine  that 
could  be  put  in  a  boat  and  made  to  turn  paddle 
wheels  so  as  to  drive  the  boat  alcag,  was  James 
Watt,  who  was  born  on  the  Clyde ;  and  he  is 
accordingly  considered  as  the  author  and  orig- 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  29 

inacor  of  English  steam  navigation,  just  as 
Fulton  is  regarded  as  the  originator  of  the  art 
in  America.  The  Clyde,  of  course,  very  nat- 
urally became  the  center  of  steamboat  and 
steamship  building.  The  iron  for  the  engines 
was  found  close  at  hand,  as  well  as  abundant 
supplies  of  coal  for  the  fires.  The  timber  they 
brought  from  the  Baltic.  At  length,  however, 
they  found  that  they  could  build  ships  of  iron 
instead  of  wood,  using  iron  beams  for  the 
framing,  and  covering  them  with  plates  of  iron 
riveted  together  instead  of  planks.  These 
ships  were  found  very  superior,  in  almost  all 
respects,  to  those  built  of  timber;  and  as  iron 
in  great  abundance  was  found  all  along  the 
banks  of  the  Clyde,  and  as  the  workmen  in  the 
region  were  extremely  skilful  in  working  it, 
the  business  of  building  ships  and  steamers  of 
this  material  increased  wonderfully,  until,  at 
length,  the  banks  of  the  river  for  miles  below 
Glasgow  became  lined  with  ship  yards,  where 
countless  steamers,  of  monstrous  length  and 
graceful  forms,  in  all  the  stages  of  construc- 
tion, lie;  now  sloping  toward  the  water  and 
down  the  stream,  ready  at  the  appointed  time 
to  glide  majestically  into  the  river,  and  thence 
to  plough  their  way  to  every  portion  of  the 
habitable  globe. 

It  was  into  this  busy  scene  of  mechanical 
industry  and  skill  that  our  party  of  travelers 
were  now  coming.  But  before  I  resume  the 
narrative  of  their  adventures,  I  will  say  a  word 
about  those  parts  of  Scotland  which  lie  to  the 
north  and  south  of  these  central  regions  that 


30  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

are  occupied  by  the  valleys  of  the  Forth  and 
the  Clyde.  The  region  which  extends  to  the 
southward — that  is,  which  lies  between  the 
valleys  of  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  English  frontier  on  the  other — 
is  called  the  southern  part  of  the  country.  It 
consists,  generally,  of  fertile  and  gently  undu- 
lating land,  which  is  employed  almost  entirely 
for  tillage,  and  is  but  little  visited  by  tourists 
or  travelers. 

The  northern  part  of  Scotland  is,  however,. 
of  a  very  different  character;  being  wild, 
mountainous  and  waste,  and  filled  everywhere 
with  the  most  grand  and  sublime  scenery. 
The  eastern  portion  of  this  part  of  the  island 
is  more  level,  and  there  are  several  large  and 
flourishing  towns  on  or  near  the  shores  of  it, 
such  as  Inverness,  Aberdeen,  Dundee,  Perth, 
and  others.  But  the  whole  of  the  western  side 
of  it  consists  of  one  vast  congeries  of  lakes  and 
mountains,  so  wild  and  sombre  in  their  charac- 
ter that  they  have  become  celebrated  through- 
out the  world  for  the  gloomy  grandeur  of  the 
scenery  which  they  present  to  the  view. 

These  are  the  famous  Scottish  Highlands. 
Mr.  George's  plan  was  first  to  visit  the  valley 
of  the  Clyde,  and  its  various  mines  and  manu- 
factories, and  then  to  take  a  circuit  round 
among  the  Highlands,  on  his  way  to  Edin- 
burgh. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  31 


CHAPTER  III. 


ARRIVAL    AT    GLASGOW. 


One  of  the  greatest  drawbacks  to  the  pleas- 
tire  of  traveling  in  Scotland,  especially  among 
the  Highlands,  is  the  rain.  It  usually  rains 
more  in  mountainous  countries  than  in  those 
that  are  level,  for  the  mountains,  rising  into 
the  higher  and  colder  regions  of  the  atmos- 
phere, chill  and  condense  the  vapors  that  are 
floating  there,  on  the  same  principle  by  which 
a  tumbler  or  a  pitcher,  made  cold  by  iced  water 
placed  within  it,  condenses  the  moisture  from 
the  air,  upon  the  outside  of  it,  on  a  summer's 
day.  It  is  also  probable  that  the  mountain 
summits  produce  certain  effects  in  respect  to 
the  electrical  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  on 
which  it  is  well  known  that  the  formation  of 
clouds  and  the  falling  of  rain  greatly  depend — 
though  this  subject  is  yet  very  little  under- 
stood. At  all  events,  the  western  part  of  Scot- 
land is  one  of  the  most  rainy  regions  in  the 
world,  and  travelers  who  visit  it  must  expect 
to  have  their  plans  and  arrangements  very 
often  and  very  seriously  interfered  with  by  the 
state  of  the  weather. 

The  changes  are  quite  unexpected,  too ;  for 
sometimes  you  will  see  dark  masses  of  watery 
vapor,  coming  suddenly  into  view,  and  driving 


32  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

swiftly  across  the  sky,  where  a  few  moments 
before  everything  had  appeared  settled  and 
serene.  These  scuds  are  soon  followed  by 
others,  more  and  more  dense  and  threatening, 
until,  at  last,  there  come  drenching  showers  cf 
rain,  which  drive  everybody  to  the  nearest 
shelter,  if  there  is  any  shelter  at  hand. 

Such  a  change  as  this  came  on  while  Mr. 
George  had  been  making  arrangements  with 
Mr.  Kennedy  for  taking  Waldron  under  his 
charge ;  and  just  as  Waldron  and  Rollo  had 
gone  away  to  see  what  plan  they  could  devise 
in  respect  to  the  hotel,  it  began  to  rain.  The 
clouds  and  mists,  too,  concealed  the  shores 
almost  entirely  from  view,  and  the  passengers 
began  to  go  below.  Mr.  George  followed  their 
example.  On  his  way  he  passed  a  sheltered 
place  where  he  saw  Waldron  and  Rollo  engaged 
in  conversation,  and  he  told  thern,  as  he  passed 
them,  that  when  they  were  ready  to  report 
they  would  find  him  below. 

In  about  fifteen  minutes  the  boys  came  down 
to  him. 

"Uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "we  have 
found  out  that  there  are  a  good  many  excellent 
hotels  in  Glasgow,  but  we  think  we  had  better 
go  to  the  Queen's." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron.  "It  fronts  on  a 
handsome  square,  where  they  are  going  to  have 
an  exhibition  of  flowers  to-morrow,  with  tents 
and  music. " 

"And  shall  you  wish  to  go  and  see  the 
flowers?"  asked  Mr.  George. 

"No,    sir,"   said  Waldron.      "I    don't  care 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  33 

much  about  flowers,   but  I  should  like  to  see 
the  tents,  and  to  hear  the  music." 

"Then,  besides,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo, 
'  'we  are  coming  to  the  mouth  of  the  river 
pretty  soon,  and  as  soon  as  we  get  in  we  shall 
come  to  Greenock ;  and  there  is  a  railroad  from 
Greenock  up  to  Glasgow,  so  that  we  can  go 
ashore  there,  if  you  please,  and  go  up  to  Glas- 
gow quick  by  the  railroad.  A  great  many  of 
the  passengers  are  going  to  do  that." 

"Do  you  think  that  would  be  a  good  plan?" 
asked  Mr.  George. 

"Why,  yes,"  said  Rollo,  "I  should  think  it 
would  be  a  good  plan,  if  we  had  not  paid  our 
passage  through  by  the  steamer. ' ' 

"And  what  do  you  think  about  it,  Waldron?" 
asked  Mr.  George. 

"  I  should  like  it, ' '  said  Waldron.  ' 4  The  fare 
is  only  one  and  sixpence.  I  should  have  pre- 
ferred to  go  up  in  the  steamer  if  it  had  been 
pleasant,  so  that  we  could  see  the  ships  and 
steamers  on  the  stocks ;  but  it  is  so  misty  and 
rainy  that  we  cannot  see  anything  at  all.  So, 
if  you  would  go  up  by  the  railroad,  and  then, 
to-morrow,  when  it  is  pleasant,  come  down  a 
little  way  again,  on  one  of  the  steamboats,  to 
see  the  river,  I  should  like  it  very  much, " 

"But  I  shall  have  to  stay  at  home  to-mor- 
row," said  Mr.  George,  "and  write  letters  to 
send  to  America.     It  is  the  last  day. ' ' 

"Then  let  Rollo  and  me  go  down  by  our- 
selves." 

"Yes,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "let  us 
go  by  ourselves." 

3    Scotland 


34  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"Ah,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  am  not  sure 
that  would  be  safe.  I  am  not  much  acquainted 
with  Waldron  yet,  and  I  don't  know  what  his 
character  is,  in  respect  to  judgment  and  dis- 
cretion. ' ' 

"O,  I  think  he  has  got  good  judgment,"  said 
Rollo.     "We  will  both  be  very  careful." 

"Yes,  sir;"  said  Waldron,  "we  certainly 
will." 

"O,  boys'  promises,"  said  Mr.  George,  "in 
respect  to  such  things  as  that,  are  good  for 
nothing  at  all.  I  never  place  any  reliance 
upon  them  whatever. ' ' 

"O,  uncle  George!"  exclaimed  Rollo. 

"Well,  now,  would  you,  if  you  were  in  my 
case?"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  will  leave  it  to 
you,  Waldron.  Suppose  a  strange  boy,  that 
you  know  no  more  about  than  I  do  of  you,  were 
to  come  to  you  with  a  promise  that  he  would 
be  very  careful  if  you  would  let  him  go  some- 
where, and  that  he  would  not  go  into  any  dan- 
gerous places,  or  expose  himself  to  any  risks, — 
would  you  think  it  safe  to  trust  him?" 

"Why,  no,  sir;"  said  Waldron,  reluctantly. 
"I  don't  think  I  should.  Perhaps  I  might  try 
him." 

"According  to  my  experience,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "you  can't  trust  to  boys'  promises  in 
the  least.  It  is  not  that  they  make  promises 
with  the  intention  of  breaking  them,  but  they 
don't  know  what  breaking  them  is.  A  boy 
who  is  not  careful  does  not  know  the  difference 
between  being  careful  and  being  careless ;  and 
so  he  breaks  his  promise,  and  then,  if  he  gets 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  35 

into  any  trouble  by  his  folly,  he  says,  4I  did  not 
think  there  was  any  harm  in  that. '  " 

"No,"  added  Mr.  George,  in  conclusion, 
shaking  his  head  gravely  as  he  spoke.  "I 
never  place  any  reliance  on  such  promises." 

"Then  how  can  you  tell  whether  to  trust  a 
boy  or  not?"  asked  Rollo. 

"I  never  can  tell,"  said  Mr.  George,  "until 
he  is  proved.  When  he  is  tried  and  proved, 
then  I  know  him;  but  not  before." 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  "then  let  Waldron  and 
me  go  down  the  river  to-morrow,  if  it  is  pleas- 
ant, and  let  that  be  for  our  trial." 

"It  might  possibly  be  a  good  plan  to  let  you 
go,  on  that  ground, ' '  said  Mr.  George.  He 
said  this  in  a  musing  manner,  as  if  considering 
the  question. 

"I  will  think  of  it,"  said  he.  "I'll  see  if  I 
can  think  of  any  conditions  on  which  I  can 
allow  you  to  go,  and  I  will  tell  you  about  it  at 
the  hotel.  And  now,  in  regard  to  going  up  to 
Glasgow.  I'll  leave  it  to  you  and  Waldron  to 
decide.  You  must  go  and  ascertain  all  the 
facts— such  as  how  soon  the  train  leaves  after 
we  arrive,  and  how  much  sooner  we  get  up 
there,  if  we  go  in  it.  Then  you  must  take 
charge  of  all  the  baggage,  too,  and  see  that  it 
goes  across  safe  from  the  steamer  to  the  sta- 
tion, and  attend  to  the  whole  business." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron,  "we  will.  We'll 
get  a  cab,  and  put  the  baggage  right  in." 

"Can't  you  get  it  across  without  a  cab?"  said 
Mr.  George.  "I  don't  see  how  I  can  afford  to 
take  a  cab,  very  well ;  for  you  see  we  have  to 


36  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

incur  an  extra  expense  as  it  is,  to  go  in  the 
cars  at  all,  since  we  have  already  paid  our  pas- 
sage up  by  the  steamer. ' ' 

"Well,  sir,"  said  Waldron,  eagerly,  "we  can 
carry  the  baggage  across  ourselves.  Let  us 
go  and  look  at  it,  Rollo,  and  see  how  much 
there  is. ' ' 

So  the  boys  went  off  with  great  eagerness  to 
look  at  the  baggage.  In  a  few  minutes  they 
returned  again,  wearing  very  bright  and  ani- 
mated countenances. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron,  "we  can  take  it  all 
just  as  well  as  not.  I  can  take  your  valise, 
and  Rollo  can  take  my  things,  and  I  can  carry 
your  knapsack  under  my  arm." 

"O,  I  am  willing  to  help,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"I  can  help  in  carrying  the  things,  provided  I 
do  not  have  any  care.  If  you  will  count  up  all 
the  things  that  are  to  go,  and  see  that  they  all 
do  go,  and  then  count  them  again  when  we  get 
into  the  railway  carriage,  so  as  to  be  sure  that 
they  are  all  there,  and  thus  save  me  from 
responsibility,  that  is  all  I  ask,  and  I  will  carry 
anything  you  choose  to  give  me. ' ' 

"Well,  sir,"  said  Waldron. 

Indeed,  Waldron  was  very  much  pleased  to 
find  how  completely  Mr.  George  was  putting 
the  business  under  his  and  Rollo' s  charge. 

"And  now,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  think  you 
had  better  tell  your  father  and  mother  about 
this  plan  of  our  going  ashore  at  Gree- 
nock. 

They  may  like  to  do  so,  too. " 

"O,  they  know  all  about  it,"  said  Waldron, 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  37 

and  they  are  going.     Mother  says  that  she  has 
had  enough  of  the  steamer." 

Not  long  after  this  the  steamer  arrived  at 
Greenock,  and  made  fast  to  the  pier.  A  large 
number  of  the  passengers  went  ashore.  The 
rain  had  ceased,  which  was  very  fortunate  for 
those  who  were  to  walk  to  the  station ;  though, 
of  course,  the  streets  were  still  wet.  As  soon 
as  the  boat  was  made  fast,  Mr.  George  went  to 
the  plank,  and  there  he  found  Waldron  and 
Rollo  ready,  with  the  baggage  in  their  hands. 
Mr.  George  took  his  valise,  though  at  first 
Waldron  was  quite  unwilling  to  give  it  up. 

"O,  yes,"  said  Mr.  George;  "I  have  no 
objection  to  hard  work.  What  I  don't  like  is 
care.  If  you  and  Rollo  will  take  the  care  off 
my  mind,  that  is  all  I  ask." 

"Well,"  said  Waldron,  "we  will.  And  now 
I  wonder  which  way  we  must  go,  to  get  to  the 
station." 

"I  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George. 
As  he  said  this  his  countenance  assumed  a 
vacant  and  indifferent  expression,  as  if  he  con- 
sidered that  the  finding  of  the  way  to  the  sta- 
tion was  no  concern  of  his. 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  Waldron,  "this  is  the  way. 
See!"  So  saying,  Waldron  pointed  to  a  sign 
put  up  near  the  end  of  the  pier,  with  the  words 
'  'Railroad  Station  painted  upon  it,  and  a  hand 
indicating  the  way  to  go. 

As  the  sun  had  now  come  out,  the  party  had 
quite  a  pleasant  walk  to  the  station.  Mr. 
George  had  all  his  clothes  in  a  light  and  small 
valise  which  he  could  carry  very  easily  in  his 


38  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

hand.  Some  of  Rollo's  clothes  were  in  this 
valise,  too,  and  the  rest  were  in  a  small  carpet 
bag.  Waldron's  were  in  a  carpet  bag,  too. 
Besides  these  things  there  were  some  coats  and 
umbrellas  to  be  carried  in  the  hand,  and  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  had  each  a  knapsack,  which 
they  had  bought  in  Switzerland.  These  knap- 
sacks were  hung  at  their  sides.  They  were 
light,  for  at  this  time  there  was  very  little  in 
them. 

Rollo  and  Waldron  stopped  once  in  the  street 
to  inquire  if  they  were  on  the  right  way  to  the 
station ;  and  finding  that  they  were,  they  went 
on  and  soon  arrived  at  the  gateway.  They  went 
in  at  a  spacious  entrance,  and  thence  ascended 
a  long  and  very  wide  flight  of  stairs,  which  led 
to  the  second  story.  They  found  a  train, 
apparently  all  ready  for  a  start.  Passengers 
were  walking  to  and  fro  on  the  platform,  and 
getting  into  the  carriages. 

On  one  side  was  a  book  stand,  where  a  boy 
was  selling  books.  There  was  a  counter  be- 
fore, and  shelves  against  the  walls  behind. 
The  shelves  were  filled  with  books.  These 
books  were  in  fancy-colored  paper  bindings, 
and  seemed  to  consist  chiefly  of  guide  books 
and  tales,  and  other  similar  works  suited  to  the 
wants  of  travelers. 

Mr.  George  laid  his  valise  down  upon  a 
bench  near  by,  and  began  to  look  at  the  books. 
Waldron  and  Rollo  put  their  baggage  down  in 
the  same  way,  and  followed  his  example. 

While  they  were  standing  there  they  saw  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kennedy  and  the  two  girls  coming  up 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  39 

the  stairs.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  por- 
ter. 

Mrs.  Kennedy  stopped  a  moment  to  speak  to 
Waldron  as  she  went  by. 

"Now,  Waldron,"  said  she,  "you  must  be 
very  careful,  and  not  get  into  any  difficulty. 
Keep  close  to  Mr.  George  all  the  time,  and 
don't  get  run  over  when  you  get  in  and  out  of 
the  cars.  You  had  better  button  up  your 
jacket.  It  is  very  damp,  and  you  will  take 
cold,  I  am  afraid." 

So  saying,  she  began  to  button  up  Waldron's 
jacket  in  front,  giving  it  a  pull  this  way  and 
that  to  make  it  set  better. 

"Don't,  mother!"  said  Waldron.  "I'm  so 
hot." 

So  he  shook  his  shoulders  a  little  uneasily, 
and  tried  to  turn  away.  But  his  mother  in- 
sisted that  his  jacket  should  be  buttoned  up.  at 
least  part  way. 

"Come,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Kennedy,  speak- 
ing to  his  wife;  "we  have  no  time  to  lose. 
The  train  is  going.  " 

So  Mr.  Kennedy  bade  Waldron  good-by,  and 
hurried  on,  and  Waldron  immediately  unbut- 
toned his  jacket  again,  saying  at  the  same 
time: 

"Come,  Mr.  George,  it  is  time  for  us  to  go 
aboard. ' ' 

"Have  you  got  the  tickets?"  said  Mr. 
George,  quietly,  still  keeping  his  eyes  upon  a 
book  that  he  was  examining. 

"No,"  said  Waldron.  "Are  we  to  get  the 
tickets?" 


40  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"Of  course,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  You  and  Rollo  have 
undertaken  to  get  me  to  Glasgow  without  my 
having  any  thought  or  concern  about  it." 

"Well,  come,  Rollo,  quick;  let's  go  and  get 
them.     Where's  the  booking  office?" 

At  the  English  stations  the  place  where  the 
tickets  are  bought  is  called  the  booking  office. 
It  is  necessary  to  procure  tickets,  or  you  can- 
not commence  the  journey ;  for  it  is  not  cus- 
tomary, as  in  America,  to  allow  the  passengers 
the  privilege,  when  they  desire  it,  of  paying 
in  the  cars. 

"Do  you  know  where  the  booking  office  is, 
Mr.  George?"  said  Waldron. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George.  "But  if  you  look 
about  you  will  find  it." 

So  Waldron  and  Rollo  ran  off  to  find  the 
office.  It  was  downstairs.  Before  they  came 
back  with  the  tickets  the  train  was  gone. 

"It  is  no  matter,"  said  Mr.  George.  "In- 
deed, I  think  it  is  my  fault  rather  than  yours, 
for  it  was  not  distinctly  understood  that  you 
were  to  get  the  tickets.  There  will  be  another 
train  pretty  soon,  I  presume.  In  the  mean- 
time I  should  like  to  look  at  these  books,  and 
you  and  Rollo  can  amuse  yourselves  about  the 
station. ' ' 

So  Waldron  and  Rollo  went  off  to  see  if  they 
could  find  a  time  table,  in  order  to  learn  when 
the  next  train  would  go.  They  found  that 
there  would  be  another  train  in  an  hour.  In 
the  meantime  it  began  to  rain  again,  which 
prevented  the  party  from  taking  a  walk  about 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  41 

the  town,  so  that  they  had  to  amuse  themselves 
at  the  station  as  they  best  could. 

There  was  a  refreshment  room  at  the  sta- 
tion, and  the  boys  thought  at  first  that  it  would 
be  a  good  plan  to  have  something  to  eat;  but, 
finally  they  concluded  that  they  would  wait, 
and  have  a  regular  dinner  at  the  coffee  room 
of  the  hotel.  Mr.  George  left  them  to  decide 
the  question  themselves  as  they  thought  best. 
The  hour,  however,  soon  glided  away,  and  at 
the  end  of  it  the  party  took  their  seats  in  the 
train,  and  were  trundled  rapidly  along  the 
banks  of  the  river  to  Glasgow.  The  road  lay- 
through  beautiful  parks  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  way,  with  glimpses  of  the  water  here 
and  there  between  the  trees.  The  view  of  the 
scenery,  however  was  very  much  impeded  by 
the  falling  rain. 


42  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   EXPEDITION    PLANNED. 

The  boys  were  very  successful  in  their  selec- 
tion of  a  hotel,  for  the  Queen's  Hotel,  in  Glas- 
gow, is  one  of  the  most  comfortable  and  best 
managed  inns  in  the  kingdom. 

The  party  rode  to  the  inn,  in  a  cab  which 
they  took  at  the  station  in  Glasgow,  when  the 
train  arrived  there,  instead  of  walking,  as  they 
had  done  in  going  from  the  boat  to  the  station 
at  Greenock.  The  boys  asked  Mr.  George's 
advice  on  this  point,  and  he  said  that,  though 
he  was  unwilling  to  take  any  responsibility,  he 
had  no  objection  whatever  to  giving  his  advice, 
whenever  they  wished  for  it.  So  he  told  them 
that  he  thought  it  was  always  best  to  go  to  a 
hotel  in  a  carriage  of  some  sort. 

"Because,"  said  he,  "in  England  and  Scot- 
land— that  is,  in  all  the  great  towns — if  we 
come  on  foot,  they  think  that  we  are  poor,  and 
of  no  consequence,  and  so  give  us  the  worst 
rooms,  and  pay  us  very  little  attention," 

When  the  cab  arrived  at  the  hotel,  Waldron 
said: 

"There,  Mr.  George,  we  have  brought  you 
safe  to  the  hotel.  Now  we  have  nothing  more 
to  do,   We  give  up  the  command  to  you  now. " 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  43 

Two  or  three  nicely  dressed  porters  and  wait- 
ers came  out  from  the  door  of  the  hotel,  to  re- 
ceive the  travelers  and  wait  upon  them  in.  The 
porters  took  the  baggage,  even  to  the  coats 
and  umbrellas,  and  the  head  waiter  led  the 
way  into  the  house.  Waldron  paid  the  cabman 
as  he  stepped  out  of  the  cab.  He  knew  what 
the  fare  was,  and  he  had  it  all  ready.  Mr. 
George  said  to  the  waiter  that  he  wanted  two 
bedrooms,  one  with  two  beds  in  it.  The  waiter 
bowed,  with  an  air  of  great  deference  and  re- 
spect, and  said  that  the  chambermaid  would 
show  the  rooms.  The  chambermaid,  who  was 
a  very  nice-looking  and  tidily-dressed  young 
woman,  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  ready  to 
conduct  the  newly-arrived  party  up  to  the 
chambers.  She  accordingly  led  the  way,  and 
Mr.  George  and  the  boys  followed — two  neat- 
looking  porters  coming  behind  with  the  vari- 
ous articles  of  baagage. 

The  rooms  were  very  pleasant  apartments, 
situated  on  the  front  side  of  the  house,  and 
looking  out  upon  a  beautiful  square.  The 
square  was  enclosed  in  a  high  iron  railing.  It 
was  adorned  with  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  in- 
tersected here  and  there  with  smooth  gravel 
walks.  In  the  center  was  a  tall  Doric  column, 
with  a  statue  on  the  summit.  There  were 
other  statues  in  other  parts  of  the  square.  One 
of  them  was  in  honor  of  Watt,  who  is  the 
great  celebrity  of  Glasgow — so  large  a  share 
of  the  prosperity  and  wealth  of  the  whole 
region  being  due  so  much  to  his  discoveries. 

"Now,  boys,"  said  Mr,   George,  "you  will 


44  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

find  water  and  everything  in  your  room. 
Make  j^ourselves  look  as  nice  as  a  pin,  and  then 
go  downstairs  and  find  the  coffee  room.  When 
you  have  found  it,  choose  a  pleasant  table,  and 
order  dinner.  You  may  order  just  what  you 
please. ' ' 

So  Mr.  George  left  the  boys  to  themselves, 
and  went  into  his  own  room. 

In  about  half  an  hour  Rollo  came  up  and 
told  Mr.  George  that  the  dinner  was  ready. 
So  Mr.  George  went  down  into  the  coffee  room, 
Rollo  showing  him  the  way. 

Mr.  George  found  that  the  boys  had  chosen 
a  very  pleasant  table  indeed  for  their  dinner. 
It  was  in  a  corner,  between  a  window  and  the 
fireplace.  There  was  a  pleasant  coal  fire  in 
the  fireplace,  with  screens  before  it,  to  keep 
the  glow  of  it  from  the  faces  of  the  guests. 
The  room  was  quite  large,  and  there  was  a 
long  table  extending  up  and  down  the  middle 
of  it.  This  table  was  set  for  dinner  or  supper. 
There  were  other  smaller  tables  for  separate 
parties  in  different  corners  of  the  room. 

Mr.  George  and  the  boys  took  their  seats  at 
the  table. 

"We  thought  we  would  have  some  coffee," 
said  Rollo. 

"That's  right,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  like 
coffee  dinners.     What  else  have  you  got?" 

"We  have  got  some  Loch  Fine  herring,  and 
some  mutton  chops,"  said  Rollo. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron.  "You  see  the 
Loch  Fine  herrings   are  very  famous,  and  we 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  45 

thought  you  would  like  to  know  how  they 
taste. ' ' 

By  this  time  the  waiter  had  removed  the 
covers,  and  the  party  commenced  their  dinner. 
The  fire,  which  was  near  them,  was  very  pleas- 
ant, for  although  it  was  June,  the  weather  was 
damp  and  cold. 

In  the  course  of  the  dinner  the  boys  intro- 
duced again  the  subject  of  going  down  the 
Clyde  the  next  day. 

"The  boat  goes  from  the  Broomielaw, "  said 
Waldron. 

"The  Broomielar, "  repeated  Mr.  George: 
"what  is  the  Broomielaw?" 

"Why,  it  is  the  harbor  and  pier,"  said  Wal- 
dron. "It  is  below  the  lowest  bridge.  All  the 
boats  that  go  down  the  river  go  from  the 
Broomielaw.  They  go  almost  every  hour. 
We  can  go  down  by  a  boat  and  see  the  river, 
and  then  we  can  come  up  by  the  railroad. 
That  will  be  just  as  cheap,  if  we  take  a  second- 
class  car. ' ' 

"Well,  now,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  have  con- 
cluded that  I  should  not  be  willing  to  have  you 
make  this  excursion  except  on  two  conditions; 
and  they  are  such  hard  ones  that  I  do  not  be- 
lieve you  would  accept  them.  You  would 
rather  not  go  at  all  than  to  go  on  such  hard 
conditions. ' ' 

"What  are  the  conditions?"  asked  Rollo. 

"I  don't  believe  you  will  accept  them,"  said 
Mr.  George. 

"But  let  us  hear  what  they  are,"  said  Wal- 
dron.    "Perhaps  we  should  accept  them. " 


46  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"The  first  is,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  when 
you  get  home  you  must  go  to  your  room,  and 
write  me  an  account  of  what  you  see  on  the 
excursion.  Each  of  you  must  write  a  separate 
account. ' ' 

"That  we  will  do,"  said  Rollo.  "I  should 
like  to  do  that.     Wouldn't  you,  Waldron?" 

Waldron  seemed  to  hesitate.  Though  he 
was  a  very  active-minded  and  intelligent  boy 
in  respect  to  what  he  saw  and  heard,  he  was 
somewhat  backward  in  respect  to  knowledge  of 
books  and  skill  in  writing.  Finally,  he  said 
that  he  should  be  willing  to  tell  Mr.  George 
what  he  saw,  but  he  did  not  think  that  he 
could  write  it. 

"That  is  just  as  I  supposed,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "I  did  not  think  you  would  accept 
my  conditions." 

"Well,  sir,  I  will,"  said  Waldron.  "I  will 
write  it  as  well  as  I  can.  And  what  is  the 
other  condition?" 

"That  you  shall  write  down,  at  the  end  of 
your  account,  the  most  careless  thing  that  you 
see  Rollo  do,  all  the  time  that  you  are  gone," 
said  Mr.  George,  "and  that  Rollo  shall  write 
down  the  most  careless  thing  he  sees  you  do. " 

"But  suppose  we  don't  do  any  careless 
things  at  all,"  said  Rollo. 

"Then,"  said  Mr.  George,  "you  must  write 
down  what  comes  the  nearest  to  being  a  care- 
less thing.  And  neither  of  you  must  know 
what  the  other  writes  until  you  have  shown 
the  papers  to  me. ' ' 

After  some  hesitation  the  boys  agreed  to 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  « 

both  these  terms,  and  so  it  was  decided  that 
they  were  to  go  down  the  river.  The  steamer 
which  they  were  to  take  was  to  sail  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  so  thy  ordered  breakfast  at  eight. 
Mr.  George  said  that  he  would  go  down  with 
them  in  the  morning  to  the  Broomielaw,  and 
see  them  sail. 


48  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 


CHAPTER  V. 


DOWN    THE    CLYDE. 


The  boys  returned  in  safety  from  their  ex- 
cursion  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
In  fulfilment  of  their  promise  they  immedi- 
ately went  to  their  room,  and  wrote  their  sev- 
eral accounts  of  the  expedition.  They  agreed 
together  that,  in  order  to  avoid  repetitions, 
Waldron  should  dwell  most  upon  the  first  part 
of  the  trip,  and  Rollo  upon  the  last  part. 

The  following  is  the  account  that  Waldron 
wrote : 

"account  of  our  trip. 

"First,  there  was  a  man  standing  by  the 
plank,  that  asked  us  if  wre  had  got  our  tickets. 
We  told  him  no.  Then  he  showed  us  where 
to  go  and  get  them.  It  was  at  a  little  office  on 
the  pier.  The  price  of  the  tickets  was  a  shil- 
ling. 

"The  steamboat  was  not  very  largf  There 
was  no  saloon  on  deck,  and  no  aM  lg,  but 
only  seats  on  deck,  and  many  people  SLiting  on 
them. 

"There  was  a  boy  among  them  who  had  a 
kilt  on.     It  was  the  first  kilt  I  ever  saw. 

"We  soon  began  to  go  down  the  river.  The 
sides  of  the   river   were  walled    up,    to  form 


:  The  waiter  had  removed  the  covers." — Page  45. 

ltollo  in  Scotland. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  49 

piers,  all  along,  and  there  were  a  great  many 
ships  and  steamers  moored  to  them.  I  saw 
several  American  vessels  among  them. 

"By-and-by,  when  we  got  below  the  town, 
the  river  grew  wider,  and  the  banks  were  slop- 
ing, but  they  were  paved  all  the  way  with 
large  stones.  This  was  to  prevent  their  being 
washed  away  by  the  swell  of  the  steamers. 
There  were  a  great  many  steamers  going  up 
and  down,  which  kept  the  water  all  the  time 
a-swashing  against  the  banks. 

"I  went  up  on  the  bridge  where  the  captain 
stood.  There  were  good  steps  to  go  up,  on  the 
side  of  the  paddle  box.  Rollo  would  not  go. 
I  had  a  fine  lookout  from  the  bridge.  The 
captain  was  there.  He  told  me  a  good  many 
things  about  the  river.  He  said  that  the  river 
used  to  be  only  five  feet  deep,  and  now  it  was 
almost  twenty,  all  the  way  from  the  sea. 
They  dug  it  out  with  dredging  machines. 

"I  asked  him  what  they  did  with  the  mud. 
He  said  they  hauled  it  away,  and  spread  it  on 
the  land  in  the  country.  They  made  a  rail- 
road, he  said,  on  purpose  to  take  the  mud  away 
to  where  it  was  wanted. 

"Presently  we  began  to  come  to  the  ship 
yards.  There  was  an  immense  number  of  iron 
ships  on  the  stocks,  building.  The  workmen 
made  a  great  noise  with  their  hammers,  head- 
ing the  rivets.  There  seemed  to  be  thousands 
of  hammers  going  at  a  time. 

"The  steamers  all  sloped  towards  the  water, 
and  pointed  down  the  stream.  I  suppose  that 
this  was  so  that  when  they  were  launched  they 

Scotland 


50  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

might  go  down  in  the  middle  of  the  channel, 
and  not  strike  the  bank  on  the  opposite  side. 

"We  met  a  great  many  steamers  coming  up. 
One  I  thought  had  just  been  launched.  She 
was  full  of  workmen.  There  were  a  great 
many  women  running  along  on  the  bank, 
where  it  was  green,  trying  to  keep  up  with  her. 
They  were  almost  all  barefooted.  I  suppose 
they  had  been  down  to  see  her  launched.  I 
wish  we  had  been  a  little  sooner. 

"When  I  came  down  from  the  bridge  I 
looked  into  the  hold  to  see  the  engine.  I 
wanted  to  go  down,  but  I  was  afraid  that  Rollo 
would  call  it  a  careless  thing.  Besides,  I  could 
see  pretty  well  where  I  was.  There  were  three 
cylinders.  Two  acted  alternately,  and  the 
other  at  the  half  stroke.  I  thought  this  was  a 
very  good  plan ;  for  now  the  engine  never  can 
get  on  a  poise.  All  these  cylinders  were  in- 
clined. The  boiler  was  perpendicular.  I  never 
saw  one  like  it  before. 

"After  a  while  we  got  below  the  shio  yards, 
and  then  there  was  nothing  more  to  &-«-.,,  only 
some  green  grounds,  and  some  mountains,  and 
a  castle  on  a  rock.  Then  we  landed  at  Green- 
ock, and  came  home  by  the  railroad.  But 
Rollo  is  going  to  write  about  this. 

"The  most  careless  thing  that  Rollo  did  was 
that  he  came  very  near  leaving  his  umbrella 
on  board  the  boat  at  Greenock." 

Rollo's    account    of    the  excursion  was  as 

follows : 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  51 

"EXCURSION   ON   THE   CLYDE. 

"Waldron  and  I  went  down  the  Clyde.  We 
went  on  board  the  boat  at  the  Broomielaw,  in 
Glasgow. 

"The  first  thing  I  observed  was  that  a 
Scotchman  and  two  boys  came  on  board  with 
violins  and  a  flageolet,  and  began  to  play  to 
amuse  the  company.  At  first  I  could  not  hear 
very  well,  the  steampipe  made  such  a  noise. 
Afterwards,  when  the  pipe  stopped  blowing  off 
the  steam,  I  could  hear  better,  and  I  liked  the 
music  very  well. 

"By-and-by  one  of  the  boys  came  round  to 
collect  some  money,  and  I  put  in  a  penny.  I 
told  Waldron  that  I  thought  he  need  not  put 
in  anything,  as  he  did  not  listen. 

"There  was  a  boat  came  off  from  the  shore, 
and  a  man  got  out  of  it,  and  came  on  board 
our  steamer  just  as  we  used  to  go  on  board  the 
steamers  on  the  Rhine.  I  wish  we  could  go 
and  travel  on  the  Rhine  again. 

"When  we  got  below  the  ships  and  ship 
yards  we  came  to  a  part  of  the  river  where 
there  were  parks  and  pleasure  grounds  on  the 
banks,  and  beautiful  houses  back  among  the 
trees. 

"When  we  got  half  way  down  we  stopped  at 
a  pier  where  there  was  a  train  of  cars  to  take 
people  to  Loch  Lomond,  on  the  way  to  the 
Highlands.  Waldron  said  that  we  should  come 
there,  he  supposed,  when  we  go  to  the  High- 
lands. 

"A  little  farther  down  we  came  to  a  great 


52  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

rocky  hill,  close  by  the  water,  with  a  castle 
upon  it.  The  name  of  it  is  Dunbarton  Castle. 
We  shall  go  by  it  again,  when  we  go  to  the 
Highlands. 

"Then  we  came  to  a  great  widening  of  the 
river,  and  not  long  after  that  we  arrived  at 
Greenock  and  landed.  We  thought  that  the 
boat  was  going  to  stop  here,  but  it  did  not.  A 
great  many  of  the  passengers  staid  on  board, 
and  a  great  many  more  came  on  board,  to  go 
farther  down  the  river. 

"We  went  first  to  the  station,  so  as  to  see 
when  the  trains  went  back  to  Glasgow.  Then 
we  took  a  walk. 

"We  found  a  street  near  the  depot  with  a 
high  hill  behind  it,  and  close  to  it.  There 
were  walls  and  terraces  all  the  way  up,  and 
trees  here  and  there.  We  looked  up,  and  we 
could  see  the  heads  of  some  children  over  the 
topmost  wall.  They  were  looking  down  to 
where  we  were.  Presently  we  came  to  an 
opening,  and  some  flights  of  steps  and  steep 
walks,  and  so  we  thought  we  would  go  up. 

"When  we  got  to  the  top  we  found  a  broad 
terrace,  with  a  wall  along  the  front  edge  of  it, 
where  we  could  look  down  upon  the  river  and 
the  town.  The  town  lay  very  narrow  between 
the  river  and  the  foot  of  the  hill.  We  were  up 
very  high  above  the  tops  of  the  houses. 

"Behind  us,  on  the  terrace  were  broad  green 
fields  and  gravel  walks,  and  beds  of  flowers, 
and  great  trees  with  seats  under  them.  There 
were  a  good  many  nursery  maids  around  there, 
with  children.     The  nursery  maids  sat  on  the 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  53 

seats,  and  the  children  played  before  them  with 
the  pebbles  and  gravel. 

"I  read  in  the  guide  book  about  some 
famous  waterworks  at  Greenock,  but  we  could 
not  find  them.  We  asked  one  man,  who  was 
at  work  on  the  gravel  walks,  if  he  could  tell  us 
where  they  were;  but  he  only  stared  at  us  and 
said  he  did  not  4knaw  ony thing  aboot  it. ' 

"After  this  we  went  down  the  hill  again  and 
took  a  long  walk  along  the  bank  of  the  river. 
There  was  an  omnibus  going  by,  and  we 
wanted  to  get  into  it  and  see  where  it  would 
carry  us;  but  we  did  not  know  but  that  it 
might  carry  us  to  some  place  that  we  could  not 
get  back  from  very  soon.  The  name  of  the 
place  where  the  omnibus  went  was  painted  on 
the  side  of  it,  but  was  a  place  that  we  had 
never  heard  of  before,  and  so  we  did  not  know 
where  it  was. 

"After  this  we  went  back  to  the  station,  and 
then  came  home.  I  thought  from  the  map 
that  we  should  go  through  Paisley;  but  we  did 
not.  We  went  over  it.  We  went  over  it, 
higher  than  the  tops  of  the  chimneys. 

"This  is  the  end  of  my  account;  and  the 
most  dangerous  thing  I  saw  Waldron  do  was  to 
go  up  on  the  bridge,  on  board  the  steamer,  and 
talk  there  with  the  captain." 

"Boys,"  said  Mr.  George,  when  he  had  fin- 
ished reading  these  papers,  "your  accounts  are 
excellent.  The  thing  I  chiefly  like  about  them 
is,  that  you  go  right  straight  on  and  tell  a  plain 
story,  without  spoiling  it  all  by  making  an  at- 


54  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

tempt  at  fine  writing.  That  is  the  way  you 
ought  always  to  write.  One  of  these  days  I 
mean  to_  get  you  both  to  write  something  for 
me  in  my  journal. ' ' 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  55 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WALKS   ABOUT   GLASGOW. 

Our  party  remained  two  days  more  in  Glas- 
gow, and  visited  quite  a  number  of  objects  of 
interest  and  curiosity  in  and  around  the  city. 

At  one  end  of  the  town  there  was  a  large 
open  space,  laid  out  for  a  pleasure  ground; 
being  somewhat  similar  in  character  to  Boston 
Common,  only  it  lay  on  the  margin  of  the 
river,  and  commanded  delightful  views,  both 
of  the  city  itself,  and  of  the  surrounding 
country.  The  grounds  were  adorned  with 
trees  and  shrubbery,  and  paths  were  laid  out 
over  every  portion  of  it,  that  were  delightful 
to  walk  in.  There  were  seats,  too,  at  every 
point  that  commanded  a  pretty  view.  This 
place  was  called  the  Green. 

The  Green  was  at  the  eastern  extremity  of 
the  city.  At  the  other  end,  that  is,  towards 
the  west,  there  was  a  region  more  elevated 
than  the  rest  of  the  town,  where  the  wealthy 
people  resided.  The  streets  were  arranged  in 
crescents  and  terraces,  and  were  very  magnifi- 
cent. The  houses  were  almost  all  built  of 
stone,  and  were  of  a  very  massive  and  sub- 
stantial, as  well  as  elegant  character. 

Nearer  the  center  of  the  town  was  a  very 
large  and  ancient  church,  called  the  cathedral. 


56  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

It  was  a  solemn-looking  pile  of  buildings, 
standing  by  itself  in  a  green  yard,  back  from 
the  road,  and  thousands  of  swallows  were  twit- 
tering and  chirping  high  up  among  the  pinna- 
cles and  cornices  of  the  roof.  Although  it  was 
in  the  midst  of  a  crowded  city,  the  whole  struc- 
ture wore  an  expression  of  great  seclusion  and 
solitude. 

Behind  the  church  and  separated  from  it  by 
a  narrow  valley,  there  was  a  steep  hill  that 
was  covered,  in  every  part,  with  tombs,  and 
monuments,  and  sepulchral  enclosures.  The 
hill  was  two  or  three  hundred  feet  high,  and 
there  was  a  very  tall  monument  on  the  top  of 
it.  There  was  a  bridge  across  the  valley  be- 
hind the  cathedral  leading  to  this  cemetery. 

"Ah,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  is  the  Necrop- 
olis " 

"The  Necropolis?"  repeated  Rol'o. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  read  about  it  in 
the  guide  book.  Necropolis  means  'City  of  the 
Dead,'  and  it  is  a  city  of  the  dead,  indeed." 

There  were  pathways  leading  up  the  side  of 
the  hill  by  many  zig-zags  and  windings.  Across 
the  bridge  leading  to  it  was  a  great  iron  gate- 
way, with  a  small  iron  gate  open  in  the  middle 
of  it.  The  boys  wanted  to  go  immediately  to 
the  cemetery,  in  order  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
climbing  up  the  zig-zag  paths  to  the  top  of  the 
hill.  But  Mr.  George  said  he  wished  first  to 
go  into  the  cathedral. 

There  was  a  gate  leading  into  the  cathedral 
yard,  and  a  porter's  lodge  just  inside  of  it. 
There  was  a  sign  up  at  the  lodge,  saying  that 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  57 

the  price  of  admission  to  see  the  interior  of 
the  cathedral  was  sixpence  for  each  person. 
Waldron  said  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  worth 
sixpence  to  go,  and  Rollo  said  that  he  did  not 
care  much  about  going.  He  had  seen  cathe- 
drals enough,  he  said,  on  the  continent,  So  it 
was  agreed  that  the  boys  should  go  to  the 
cemetery,  and  wait  there  till  Mr.  George  came. 

The  boys  accordingly  went  down  the  walk 
that  led  to  the  bridge.  They  stopped  a  mo- 
ment at  the  open  gate,  not  knowing  whether 
it  was  right  for  them  to  go  in  or  not.  As, 
however,  the  gate  was  open,  and  there  was 
nobody  there  to  forbid  the  passage,  they 
stepped  over  the  iron  threshold,  and  entered. 
There  was  a  porter's  lodge  just  inside,  and  a 
man  standing  at  the  door  of  it. 

"Can  we  go  in  and  see  the  cemetery?"  asked 
Waldron. 

•'Certainly,"  said  the  porter.  "Are  you 
strangers  in  Glasgow?'' 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "we  are  Americans. 
My  uncle  is  in  the  cathedral,  and  he  is  coming 
pretty  soon." 

"Then  please  to  come  in,"  said  the  porter, 
"and  enter  your  names  in  the  visitors'  book." 

So  the  boys  went  in.  They  found  a  very 
pleasant  room,  with  a  large  book  open  on  a 
desk,  near  a  window.  They  wrote  their  names 
in  this  book,  and  also  their  residences,  and 
they  stopped  a  few  minutes  to  look  over  the 
names  that  had  been  written  there  before,  in 
order  to  see  if  any  persons  from  America  had 
recently  visited  the  cemetery.      They  found 


58  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

several  names  of  persons  from  New  York  on 
the  list,  and  two  or  three  from  Philadelphia. 

While  the  boys  were  looking  over  the  book 
the  porter  asked  them  a  great  many  questions 
about  America. 

In  a  few  minutes  they  went  on.  They 
stopped  on  the  middle  of  the  bridge,  and 
looked  down  over  the  balustrade  into  the 
ravine.  The  ravine  was  very  deep,  and  there 
was  a  little  brook  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  a 
sort  of  road  or  street  along  the  side  of  it,  far 
below  them. 

The  boys  then  went  on  into  the  cemetery. 
They  walked  about  it  for  some  time,  ascending 
continually  higher  and  higher,  and  stopping 
at  every  turn  to  read  the  inscriptions  on  the 
monuments.  At  length  they  reached  the 
summit  of  the  hill,  where  the  lofty  column 
stood  which  had  been  erected  to  the  memory 
of  John  Knox,  the  great  Scottish  reformer. 
The  column  stood  upon  a  pedestal,  which  con- 
tained an  inscription  on  each  of  the  four  sides 
of  it.  One  of  these  inscriptions  said  that  John 
Knox  was  a  man  who  could  never  be  made  to 
swerve  from  his  duty  by  any  fear  or  any  dan- 
ger, and  that,  although  his  life  was  often 
threatened  by  "dag  and  dagger,"  he  was  still 
carried  safely  through  every  difficulty  and 
danger,  and  died,  at  last,  in  peace  and  happi- 
ness ;  and  that  the  people  of  Glasgow,  mindful 
of  the  invaluable  services  he  rendered  to  his 
country,  had  erected  that  monument  in  honor 
of  his  memory. 

The  boys  had  just  finished  reading  the  in- 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  &9 

scription,  when,  looking  down  upon  the  bridge, 
they  saw  Mr.  George  coming.  They  went 
down  to  meet  him,  and  then  showed  him  the 
way  up  to  the  monument. 

Mr.  George  first  looked  up  to  the  summit  of 
it,  and  then  walked  all  around  it,  reading  the 
inscriptions.  He  read  them  aloud,  and  the 
boys  listened. 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "John  Knox  was  a  true  hero. 
He  stood  up  manfully  and  fearlessly  for  the 
right  when  almost  all  the  world  was  against 
him ;  and  to  do  that  requires  a  great  deal  of 
courage,  as  well  as  great  strength  of  character. 
Many  people  reviled  and  hated  him  while  he 
lived,  but  now  his  memory  is  universally 
honored. 

"I  hope  you  two  boys,  when  you  come  to  be 
men,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "will  follow  his 
example.  What  you  know  is  right,  that 
always  defend,  no  matter  if  all  the  world  are 
against  it.  And  what  is  wrong,  that  always 
oppose,  no  matter  if  all  the  world  are  in  favor 
of  it." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron,  "I  mean  to." 

Mr.  George  and  the  boys  rambled  about  the 
Necropolis  some  time  longer,  and  then  went  on. 

While  they  were  in  Glasgow  the  party 
visited  several  of  the  great  manufacturing 
establishments.  They  were  all  very  much 
surprised  at  the  loftiness  of  some  of  the  chim- 
neys. There  was  one  at  a  great  establishment, 
called  the  St.  Rollox  Chemical  Works,  which 
was  over  four  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high, 
and  Mr.  George  estimated  that  it  must  have 


60  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

been  thirty  or  forty  feet  diameter  at  the  base. 
If,  now,  you  ask  your  father,  or  some  friend, 
how  high  the  steeple  is  of  the  nearest  church 
to  where  you  live,  and  multiply  that  height  by 
the  necessary  number,  you  will  get  some  idea 
of  the  magnitude  of  this  prodigious  column. 
The  lightning  rod,  that  came  down  the  side 
of  it  in  a  spiral  line,  looked  like  a  spider's 
web  that  had  been,  by  chance,  blown  against 
the  chimney  by  the  wind. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  61 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ENTERING    THE   HIGHLANDS. 

The  Highland  district  of  Scotland  occupies 
almost  the  whole  of  the  western  part  of  the 
island  north  of  the  valley  of  the  Clyde.  It  con- 
sists of  mountains,  glens,  and  lakes,  with  roads 
winding  in  every  direction  through  and  among 
them.  Of  course  the  number  of  different 
Highland  excursions  which  a  tourist  can  plan 
is  infinite.  Most  visitors  to  Scotland  are,  how- 
ever, satisfied  with  a  short  tour  among  these 
mountains,  on  account  of  the  great  uncer- 
tainty of  the  weather.  Indeed,  as  it  rains  here 
more  than  half  the  time,  the  chance  is  always 
in  favor  of  bad  weather;  and  the  really  pleasant 
days  are  very  few. 

The  valley  by  which  tourists  from  Glasgow 
most  frequently  go  into  the  Highlands  is  the 
valley  of  Loch  Lomond.  The  lower  end  of  this 
lake  comes  to  within  about  ten  miles  of  the 
Clyde.  The  upper  end  of  it  extends  about 
twenty- five  miles  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
Highlands.  There  is  an  inn  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  lake,  that  is,  the  end  nearest  the  Clyde, 
called  Balloch  Inn. 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  is  another  rest- 
ing-place for  travelers.  A  small  steamboat 
passes  every  day  through  the  lake,  from  one  of 


62  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

these  inns  to  the  other,  touching  at  various 
intermediate  points  on  the  way,  at  little  vil- 
lages or  landing-places,  where  roads  from  the 
interior  of  the  country  come  down  to  the  lake. 

From  Balloch  there  is  a  railroad  leading  to 
the  Clyde,  though  it  does  not  extend  to 
Glasgow.  Travelers  from  Glasgow  come  down 
the  Clyde  in  a  steamer  about  ten  miles  to  the 
railroad  landing.  There  they  take  the  cars, 
and  proceed  down  the  river,  along  the  bank, 
amidst  scenery  of  the  grandest  and  most  beau- 
tiful character,  to  Dunbarton  Castle,  where  the 
road  leaves  the  river,  and  turns  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  country,  toward  the  valley  of 
Loch  Lomond. 

The  road  terminates  at  Balloch.  Here  the 
travelers  are  transferred  to  the  steamer,  and 
pursue  their  journey  by  water.  It  was  this 
route  Mr.  George  had  determined  to  take  on 
leaving  Glasgow. 

He  got  ready  to  leave  Glasgow  on  the  after- 
noon of  a  certain  Thursday. 

"Now,  boys,"  said  he,  "we  are  ready  to  go 
to  the  Highlands.  Find  out  for  me  when  the 
boats  and  trains  go,  while  I  settle  the  bill." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  rose  and  rang  the 
bell. 

In  Europe  we  do  not  go  down  to  the  office 
or  bar  room,  when  we  are  ready  to  leave  a 
hotel,  to  call  for  and  settle  our  bill  there,  as  we 
do  in  America,  but  we  ring  the  bell  in  our 
room,  and  ask  the  waiter  to  bring  the  bill 
to  us. 

"I  have  found  out  already,"  said  Waldron. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  63 

"There  is  a  boat  at  four  o'clock.  It  starts 
from  the  Broomielaw. ' ' 

"And  is  there  a  train  that  connects  with 
that  boat?"  asked  Mr.  George. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron. 

"Then,"  said  Mr.  George,  "we  will  go  at 
four  o'clock;  we  shall  just  have  time." 

I  am  not  certain  that  Waldron  was  entirely 
honest  in  giving  this  information  to  Mr. 
George,  for  he  concealed  one  very  important 
circumstance;  or  rather  he  omitted  to  men- 
tion it.  This  circumstance  was,  that  there  was 
no  boat  from  Balloch  to  connect  with  the 
train,  so  that  if  they  were  to  go  to  Balloch  that 
night,  he  knew  that  they  could  not  go  any 
farther  till  the  next  morning.  He  liked  this, 
for  he  and  Rollo  had  both  begun  to  be  tired 
of  Glasgow,  and  he  thought  that  if  they  should 
get  to  Balloch  two  or  three  hours  before  dark, 
there  might  be  some  chance  for  him  and  Rollo 
to  go  out  fishing  on  the  lake. 

Very  soon,  however,  he  reflected  that  he 
should  enjoy  his  fishing  less,  if  he  resorted  to 
anything  like  artifice  or  concealment  to  obtain 
it ;  and  so,  after  a  little  hesitation,  he  frankly 
told  Mr.  George  that  they  could  go  no  farther 
than  to  the  foot  of  the  lake  that  night.  There 
was  only  one  boat  each  day,  he  said,  on  the 
lake,  and  that  left  Balloch  in  the  morning,  and 
returned  at  night.  ^ 

Mr.  George  said  that  that  made  no  differ- 
ence. He  was  tired  of  being  in  a  great  city, 
and  would  like  to  see  the  country  and  the 
mountains  again;  and  he  should,   therefore, 


64  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

prefer  going  to  spend  the  night  at  Balloch, 
rather  than  to  remain  in  Glasgow. 

So  the  party  set  off.  They  embarked  on 
board  the  steamer  at  the  Broomielaw.  They 
ran  rapidly  down  the  river  to  the  railroad 
landing.  They  found  the  train  waiting  for 
them  there,  and  were  whirled  rapidly  up  the 
valley.  There  were  most  charming  views  of 
the  mountains  on  either  hand,  with  hamlets 
and  villages  scattered  along  the  slopes  of 
them.  At  length  they  arrived  at  Balloch. 
There  was  no  village  here,  but  only  a  pretty 
inn,  situated  delightfully  on  the  margin  of  the 
lake,  very  near  the  outlet.  There  was  an 
elegant  suspension  bridge  across  the  outlet, 
very  near  the  railroad  station.  There  were 
several  thatch-covered  cottages  near,  aud  two 
or  three  castles  were  seen  through  openings 
among  the  trees  on  the  hill-sides  around.  As 
the  party  crossed  the  suspension  bridge,  Rollo 
and  Waldron,  to  their  great  delight,  saw  sev- 
eral boats  floating  in  the  water  near  the  inn, 
and  there  was  a  boy  on  the  bridge  fishing  over 
the  railing.  They  stopped  to  talk  with  this 
boy,  while  Mr.  George  went  on  to  engage 
rooms  at  the  inn,  and  to  order  a  supper. 

When  the  boys  came  in  they  gave  such  fine 
accounts  of  the  fishing  on  the  lake,  and  of  the 
facility  with  which  they  could  obtain  a  boat, 
and  a  boatman  to  go  out  with  them,  that  Mr. 
George  was  half  persuaded  to  allow  them  to 
engage  a  boat,  and  to  go  out  with  them  for 
an  hour  or  two. 

"And  we  want  you  to  go  with  us,  too,"  said 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  65 

Waldron,  "if  you  can;  but  if  you  have  any- 
thing else  to  do,  we  can  go  by  ourselves,  with 
the  boatman." 

44 Yes,"  said  Rollo,  4<and  if  you  think  it  is  not 
best  for  us  to  go  at  all,  we  can  fish  on  the 
bridge." 

Mr.  George  was  much  pleased  to  hear  the 
boys  speak  in  this  manner  in  respect  to  the 
excursion.  He  was  particularly  glad  to  hear 
Waldron  say  that  he  desired  that  he  should 
go  with  them.  It  is  always  an  excellent  sign 
when  a  boy  wishes  his  father,  or  his  mother, 
or  his  uncle,  or  whoever  has  the  charge  of 
him,  to  go  with  him,  and  share  his  pleasures; 
and  those  parents  and  uncles  who  take  an  in- 
terest in  the  plans  and  enjoyments  of  their 
children,  and  sympathize  with  them  in  their 
feelings,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  children 
like  their  company,  place  themselves  in  a 
position  to  exercise  the  highest  possible  influ- 
ence over  their  conduct  and  character. 

44 Shall  we  have  time?"  asked  Mr.  George. 

44 Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron.  44It  is  not  dark 
here  till  half  past  ten,  and  it  is  only  half  past 
six  now,  so  that  there  are  four  hours. ' ' 

The  farther  you  go  north  the  longer  the  eve- 
nings are,  in  summer;  and  at  the  time  when 
our  party  made  this  visit  to  the  Highlands,  the 
evenings  there  were  so  long  that  you  could  see 
to  read  very  well  till  nearly  ten  o'clock.  The 
dawn,  and  the  sunrise,  too,  come  on  propor- 
tionately early  in  the  morning.  The  boys  for- 
got this  one  morning,  and  finding  that  it  was 
very  light  in  their  room  when  they  woke,  they 

5   Scotland 


66  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

got  up,  and  dressed  themselves,  and  vent 
down  stairs,  thinking  that  it  was  nearly  break- 
fast time.  But  they  found,  on  looking  at  a 
clock  in  the  hall  of  the  inn,  that  it  was  not 
quite  three  o'clock! 

But  to  return  to  the  story. 

Mr.  George  told  the  boys  that  if  they  would 
arrange  the  boat  party,  that  is,  if  they  would 
engage  the  boat  and  the  boatman,  and  also 
some  fishing  lines,  he  would  go  with  them. 
They  would  have  supper  first,  and  then  set  out 
immediately  afterwards. 

This  plan  was  carried  into  effect.  Mr. 
George  himself  cared  nothing  about  the  fish- 
ing. His  only  object  was  to  see  the  lake,  and 
talk  with  the  Highland  boatman.  Still  he  took 
a  line  and  fished  a  little,  for  company  to  the 
boys.  The  excursion  proved  a  very  pleasant 
one.  The  lake  was  beautiful.  The  surface  of 
the  water  was  studded  with  pretty  islands,  and 
the  shores  were  formed  of  picturesque  hills, 
which  were  everywhere  adorned  with  cottages, 
castles,  groves,  fields,  and  all  the  other 
elements  of  rural  beauty. 

The  excursion  itself  was  very  much  like  any 
fishing  excursion  in  America,  only  the  peculiar 
dialect  of  the  boatman  continually  reminded 
the  travelers  that  they  were  in  Scotland.  For 
"I  don't  know,"  he  said  "I  dinnaken;"  for 
" trouble"  the  word  was  "fash,"  and  for  "not, 
"na. "  The  boys  had  heard  this  phraseology 
before.  The  railway  porter,  when  he  put  Mr. 
George's  valise  in  the  carriage,  crowded  it 
under  the  seat,  where  he  said  it  would  not 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  67 

"fash  the  other  travelers;"  and  at  the  inn, 
where  Mr.  George  asked  the  servant  girl  if  she 
would  let  them  know  when  their  supper  was 
ready,  she  said,  "Yes,  sir;  I  will  coom  and  tak 
ye  doon. ' ' 

Waldron  enjoyed  the  fishing  excursion  very 
much  indeed.  He  said  that  he  should  like  to 
make  the  whole  tour  of  Scotland  in  a  boat, 
round  among  the  islands  on  the  western  and 
northern  shores.  These  islands  are,  indeed, 
very  grand  and  picturesque.  They  are  groups 
of  dark  mountains,  rising  out  of  the  sea.  To 
cruise  among  them  in  a  yacht  would  be  a  very 
pleasant  tour,  were  it  not  for  the  incessant 
storms  of  wind  and  rain  to  which  the  voyagers 
would  be  exposed. 

Waldron  said  he  particularly  desired  to  go  to 
the  Shetland  Islands,  on  the  north  of  Scotland, 
in  order  to  buy  himself  a  pony. 

"My  father  has  promised  me,"  said  he,  "that 
if  ever  he  goes  to  the  Shetlands  he  will  buy  me 
a  pony. ' ' 

"I  should  like  a  Shetland  pony,"  said  Rollo 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron.  "  They  are  very  hardy 
animals,  and  then  they  are  very  docile  and 
gentle.  Some  of  them  are  as  gentle  and  sa- 
gacious as  a  dog.  I  read  a  story  in  a  book  once 
of  one  that  saved  the  life  of  a  child,  by  plung- 
ing into  the  water,  and  seizing  the  child  by  the 
clothes,  between  his  teeth,  and  bringing  it  safe 
to  land.  The  child  fell  into  the  water  off  of  a 
steep  bank,  and  the  horse  jumped  in  after  it. " 

The  party  returned  from  the  fishing  excur- 
sion about  eight  o'clock ;  but  as  it  was  still  half 


68  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

an  hour  before  sunset,  Mr.  George  proposed  to 
take  a  walk  to  one  of  the  castles.  The  waiter 
at  the  hotel  had  told  them  that  he  could  give 
them  a  ticket,  and  then  the  porter  at  the  castle 
v/ould  let  them  in  at  the  gate,  and  allow  them 
to  walk  about  the  grounds  and  around  the  cas- 
tle, but  they  could  not  go  into  it,  for  the  pro- 
prietor and  his  family  were  residing  there. 

Accordingly,  when  the  party  reached  the 
landing,  at  the  end  of  their  excursion,  they  left 
the  boat,  and  walking  across  the  bridge,  they 
took  their  course  towards  the  castle.  The 
road  was  as  smooth  and  hard  as  a  floor,  but  it 
was  bordered  by  close  stone  walls  on  either 
side,  with  trees  overhanging  them.  At 
length,  after  one  or  two  turnings,  they  came 
to  the  great  gate  which  led  to  the  castle.  The 
gateway  was  bordered  on  each  side  with 
masses  of  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  just 
within  it  was  a  small  but  very  pretty  house, 
built  of  stone.  This  was  the  porter's  lodge. 
"When  they  came  up  to  the  gate,  and  looked 
through  the  bars  of  it,  a  little  barefooted  girl 
came  out  from  the  door  of  the  lodge,  and 
opened  the  gate  to  let  them  in. 

On  entering  they  found  themselves  at  the 
commencement  of  a  smoothly  graveled  ave- 
nue, which  led  in  a  winding  direction  among 
the  trees  through  a  beautiful  park.  They 
walked  on  along  this  avenue,  supposing  that 
it  would  lead  them  to  the  castle.  They  passed 
various  paths  which  branched  off  here  and 
there  from  the  avenue,  and  seemed  to  lead  in 
various  directions  about  the  grounds.      The 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  69 

views  which  presented  themselves  on  every 
side  were  varied  and  beautiful.  They  saw  sev- 
eral hares  leaping  about  upon  the  grass — a 
sight  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  boys 
very  strongly. 

At  length  they  came  in  sight  of  the  castle. 
It  stood  on  a  swell  of  ground,  at  the  foot  of  a 
high  hill.  The  body  of  it  consisted  in  part  of 
a  great  round  tower,  with  turrets  and  battle- 
ments above.  The  walls  were  covered  with 
ivy. 

After  viewing  the  edifice  as  much  as  they 
wished,  the  party  followed  some  of  the  wind- 
ing walks,  which  led  in  various  directions 
over  the  grounds ;  and,  though  everything  had 
a  finished  and  beautiful  appearance,  still  the 
whole  scene  wore  a  very  sombre  expression. 

"It  must  be  a  very  solitary  sort  of  grandeur, 
in  my  opinion,"  said  Mr.  George,  "which  a 
man  enjoys  by  living  in  such  a  place  as  this. ' ' 

"Why,  I  suppose  he  can  have  company  if 
he  wishes, ' '  said  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "Perhaps  he  lives 
in  Edinburgh,  or  in  London,  in  the  winter, 
and  in  the  summer  he  has  company  here. 
But  then  when  he  has  company  at  all  he  must 
have  them  all  the  time,  and  he  must  have  all 
the  care  and  responsibility  of  entertaining 
them ;  and  that,  I  should  think,  would  be  a 
great  burden. " 

Mr.  George  and  the  boys  rambled  over  these 
grounds  about  half  an  hour,  and  then  they 
returned  to  the  hotel.  They  were  obliged  to 
walk  fast  the  last  part  of  the  way,  for  dark, 


70  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

driving  clouds  began  to  be  seen  in  the  sky, 
and  just  before  they  reached  the  hotel  some 
drops  of  fine  rain  began  to  fall. 

"To-morrow  is  going  to  be  a  rainy  day,  I 
expect,"  said  Rollo. 

"Very  likely,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"And  shall  you  go  on  over  the  lake  if  it  is?" 
asked  Rollo. 

"I  think  we  shall  go  as  far  as  to  the  foot  of 
Ben  Lomond,"  said  Mr.  George. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  71 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ROWERDENNAN   INN. 

Ben  Lomond  is  one  of  the  highest  peaks  in 
Scotland.  There  are  one  or  two  that  are 
higher,  but  they  are  more  remote,  and  conse- 
quently less  known.  Ben  Lomond  is  the  one 
most  visited,  and  is,  accordingly,  the  one  that 
is  most  renowned. 

It  lies  on  the  east  side  of  Loch  Lomond, 
about  half  way  between  the  head  of  the  lake 
and  the  outlet.  Our  party  were  now  at  the 
outlet  of  the  lake,  and  were  going  the  next 
morning  toward  the  head  of  it.  The  outlet  of 
the  lake  is  toward  the  south.  In  this  south- 
ern part,  as  I  believe  I  have  already  said,  the 
lake  is  about  ten  miles  wide,  and  its  banks  are 
formed  of  hills  and  valleys  of  fertile  land, 
everywhere  well  cultivated,  and  presenting 
charming  scenes  of  verdure  and  fruitfulness. 
The  lake,  too,  in  this  portion  of  it,  is  studded 
with  a  great  number  of  very  picturesque  and 
pretty  islands. 

As  you  go  north,  however,  the  lake,  or  loch, 
as  the  Scotch  call  it,  contracts  in  breadth,  and 
the  land  rises-  higher  and  higher,  until  at 
length  you  see  before  you  a  narrow  sheet  of 
water,  shut  in  on  either  hand  with  dark  and 
gloomy  mountains,  the  sides  of  which  are  cov- 


72  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

ered  everywhere  with  ferns  and  heather,  and 
seem  entirely  uninhabited.  They  descend, 
moreover,  so  steep  to  the  water  that  there 
seems  to  be  not  even  room  for  a  path  between 
the  foot  of  the  mountains  and  the  shore. 

The  highest  peak  of  these  sombre-looking 
hills  is  Ben  Lomond ;  which  rises,  as  I  have 
before  said,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  loch, 
about  mid- way  between  the  head  of  the  loch 
and  the  outlet.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
there  is  a  point  of  land  projecting  into  the 
water,  where  there  is  an  inn.  Tourists  stop  at 
this  inn  when  they  wish  to  ascend  the  moun- 
tain. Other  persons  come  to  the  inn  for  the 
purpose  of  fishing  on  the  loch,  or  of  making 
excursions  by  the  footpaths  which  penetrate, 
here  and  there,  among  the  neighboring  high- 
lands. There  is  a  ferry  here,  too,  across  the 
loch.  There  is  no  village,  nor,  indeed,  are 
there  any  buildings  whatever  to  be  seen;  so 
that  the  place  is  as  secluded  and  solitary  as 
can  well  be  imagined.  It  is  known  by  the 
name  of  Rowerdennan  Inn.  It  was  at  this 
point  that  Mr.  George  proposed  to  stop,  in 
case  the  day  should  prove  rainy. 

When  the  boys  rose  the  next  morning,  the 
first  thing  was  to  look  out  of  the  window,  to 
see  what  the  promise  was  in  respect  to  the 
weather.  It  was  not  raining,  but  the  sky  was 
overcast  and  heavy. 

"Good,"  said  Waldron.  "It  does  not  rain 
yet,  but  it  will  before  we  get  to  Rowerdennan 
Inn." 

Waldron  was  glad  to  see  that  there  was  a 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  73 

prospect  of  unfavorable  weather,  for  he  wished 
to  stop  at  the  inn.  He  had  read  in  the  guide 
book  that  they  had  boats  and  fishing  appar- 
atus there,  and  he  thought  that  if  they  stopped 
perhaps  another  plan  might  be  formed  for 
going  out  on  the  loch  a-fishing. 

The  steamer  was  to  leave  at  nine  o'clock. 
The  boys  could  see  her  lying  at  the  pier,  about 
half  a  mile  distant  from  them.  The  air  was 
misty,  and  there  were  some  small  trees  in  the 
way,  but  the  boys  could  see  the  chimney  dis- 
tinctly. They  dressed  themselves  as  soon  as 
they  could,  and  went  to  Mr.  George's  room. 
They  knocked  gently  at  the  door.  Mr.  George 
said,  "Come  in."  They  went  in  and  found 
Mr.  George  seated  at  a  table,  writing  in  his 
journal.     It  was  about  seven  o'clock. 

Mr.  George  l'aid  aside  his  writing,  and  after 
bidding  the  boys  good  morning,  and  talking 
with  them  a  few  minutes  about  the  plans  of 
the  day,  took  a  testament  which  he  had  upon 
a  table  before  him,  and  read  a  few  verses  from 
one  of  the  Gospels,  explaining  the  verses  as 
he  read  them.  Then  they  all  knelt  down 
together,  and  Mr.  George  made  a  short  and 
simple  prayer,  asking  God  to  take  care  of  them 
all  during  the  day,  to  guard  them  from  every 
danger,  to  make  them  kind  and  considerate 
toward  each  other,  and  toward  all  around 
them,  and  to  keep  them  from  every  species  of 
sin. 

This  was  the  way  in  which  Mr.  George 
always  commenced  the  duties  of  the  day,  when 
traveling  with  Rollo,  whether  there  were  any 


74  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

other  persons  in  the  company  or  not ;  and  a  most 
excellent  way  it  was,  too.  Besides  the  intrinsic 
propriety  of  coming  in  the  morning  to  commit 
ourselves  to  the  guardian  care  and  protection 
of  Almighty  God,  especially  when  we  are 
exposed  to  the  vicissitudes,  temptations,  and 
dangers  that  are  always  hovering  about  the 
path  of  the  traveler  in  foreign  lands,  the  influ- 
ence of  such  a  service  of  devotion,  brief  and 
simple  as  it  was,  always  proved  extremely  sal- 
utary on  Rollo's  mind,  as  well  as  on  the  minds 
of  those  who  were  associated  with  him  in  it. 
It  made  them  more  gentle,  and  more  docile  and 
tractable ;  and  it  tended  very  greatly  to  soften 
those  asperities  which  we  often  see  manifesting 
themselves  in  the  intercourse  of  boys  with  each 
other. 

When  the  devotional  service  was  finished, 
Mr.  George  sent  the  boys  down  stairs,  to  make 
arrangements  for  breakfast.  In  about  half  an 
hour  Rollo  came  up  to  say  that  breakfast  was 
ready  in  the  coffee  room,  and  Mr.  George  went 
down. 

After  breakfast  Mr.  George  took  the  valise, 
and  the  boys  took  the  other  parcels  of  baggage, 
and  they  all  went  over  the  bridge  to  the  rail- 
way station.  They  waited  here  a  short  time, 
until  at  length  the  train  came.  They  would 
have  walked  on  to  the  pier,  where  the  boat  in 
which  they  were  going  to  embark  was  lying, 
but  it  was  beginning  to  rain  a  little,  and  Mr. 
George  thought  it  would  be  better  to  wait  and 
go  in  the  cars.  The  distance  was  not  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  the  boys  were 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  75 

quite  curious  to  know  what  the  price  of  the 
tickets  would  be,  for  such  a  short  ride.  They 
found  that  they  were  threepence  apiece. 

The  train  came  very  soon,  bringing  with  it 
several  little  parties  of  tourists,  that  were  going 
into  the  Highlands.  They  all  seemed  greatly 
chagrined  and  disappointed  at  finding  that  it 
was  beginning  to  rain. 

When  the  train  stopped  opposite  the  pier, 
the  passengers  hurried  across  the  pier,  and  over 
the  plank,  on  board  the  boat.  The  rain  was 
falling  fast,  and  everything  was  dripping  wet. 
The  gentlemen  went  loaded  with  portmanteaus, 
carpet  bags,  valises,  and  other  parcels  of  bag- 
gage, while  the  women  hurried  after  them, 
holding  their  umbrellas  in  one  hand,  and 
endeavoring,  as  well  as  they  could,  to  lift  up 
their  dresses  with  the  other.  The  boat  was 
very  small,  and  there  was  no  shelter  whatever 
from  the  rain  on  the  deck.  Most  of  the  com- 
pany, therefore,  hurried  down  into  the  cabin. 

"Are  you  going  down  into  the  cabin,  too, 
uncle  George?"  said  Rollo. 

"Not  I,"  said  Mr.  George.  "Rain  or  no 
rain,  I  am  going  to  see  the  shores  of  Loch 
Lomond." 

There  was  a  heap  of  baggage  near  the  cen- 
ter of  the  boat,  covered  with  a  tarpaulin. 
Mr.  George  put  his  valise  and  the  knapsacks 
under  the  covering,  with  the  other  travelers' 
effects,  and  then  began  to  look  about  for  seats. 
There  was  a  range  of  wooden  benches  all  along 
the  sides  of  the  deck,  but  they  were  very  wet, 
and  looked  extremely   uncomfortable.      The 


W  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.^ 

water,  however,  did  not  stand  upon  them,  for 
they  were  made  of  open  work,  on  purpose  to 
let  the  water  through. 

"If  we  only  had  some  camp  stools, "  said  Mr. 
George,  "we  could  get  sheltered  seats  under 
the  lee  of  the  baggage ;  but  as  it  is,  we  must 
make  the  best  of  these." 

So  he  folded  his  shawl  long  enough  to  make 
a  cushion  for  three  persons,  and  laid  it  down 
on  one  of  the  benches.  He  sat  down  himself 
upon  the  center  of  it,  and  the  boys  took  their 
places  on  each  side.  Mr.  George  then  spread 
his  umbrella,  and  the  boys,  by  sitting  very 
close  to  him,  could  both  come  under  it.  By 
the  time  they  were  thus  established  the  boat 
had  left  the  pier,  and  was  gliding  smoothly 
away  over  the  waters  of  the  lake,  with  green 
and  beautifully  wooded  islands  all  around.  In 
the  distance  up  the  lake,  wherever  the  opening 
of  the  clouds  afforded  a  view,  it  was  seen  that 
the  horizon  was  bounded,  and  the  waters  of 
the  lake  were  shut  in,  with  dark  and  gloomy- 
looking  mountains,  the  summits  of  which 
were  entirely  concealed  from  view. 

After  a  short  time  the  rain  increased,  and  all 
the  scenery,  except  such  islands  and  portions 
of  the  shore  as  came  very  near  the  track  of  the 
steamer,  was  soon  entirely  hidden.  The  wind 
blew  harder,  too,  and  drove  the  rain  in  under 
the  umbrella,  so  that  our  travelers  were  begin- 
ning  to  get  quite  wet. 

"Suppose  I  go  below,"  said  Waldron,  "and 
see  what  sort  of  a  place  the  other  passengers 
have  found  down  there." 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  77 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo;  "it  is  so  wet  here, 
and  besides,  I  am  beginning  to  be  cold." 

"We  will  all  go,"  said  Mr.  George. 

So  they  all  went  below.  They  descended 
one  at  a  time,  by  a  small  spiral  staircase,  near 
the  stern,  which  led  them  into  the  cabin  of  the 
boat.  The  cabin  presented  to  view  quite  an 
extraordinary  spectacle. 

It  was  a  small  room,  being  not  much  more 
than  fifteen  feet  wide.  Along  the  sides  of  it 
were  seats  made  of  carved  oak,  and  very  com- 
fortably cushioned.  Above  was  a  row  of  small 
windows,  through  which  you  could  look  out  by 
kneeling  on  the  seats.  At  the  end  of  the  cabin 
were  a  fireplace  and  a  grate.  There  was  a  coal 
fire  burning  in  the  fireplace,  and  several  of 
the  passengers  were  hovering  around  it  to 
warm  and  dry  themselves.  Others  were  look- 
ing out  of  the  windows,  vainly  endeavoring  to 
obtain  some  glimpses  of  the  scenery.  A  great 
many  of  them  were  uttering  exclamations  of 
disappointment  and  vexation,  at  finding  all  the 
pleasure  of  their  excursion  spoiled  thus  by  the 
cold  and  the  rain. 

Some  of  the  travelers,  however,  more  phil- 
osophical than  the  rest,  seemed  to  take  their 
ill  luck  quite  patiently.  There  was  one  group 
that  opened  their  knapsacks  at  one  of  the  side 
tables,  and  were  taking  breakfast  together 
there  in  a  very  merry  manner. 

Mr.  George  and  the  two  boys  went  to  the 
fire,  and  stood  there  to  warm  themselves,  listen- 
ing, in  the  meantime,  to  the  exclamations  and 
remarks  of  the  various  groups  of  passengers, 


78  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

which  they  found  quite  amusing.  In  the 
meantime  the  steamer  went  on,  bringing  con- 
tinually new  points  of  land  and  new  islands 
into  view.  She  stopped,  too,  now  and  then, 
at  landings  along  the  margin  of  the  lake ;  and 
on  these  occasions  Rollo  and  Waldron  always 
went  up  on  deck,  to  witness  the  operation  of 
bringing  the  steamer  to,  and  to  see  who  went 
on  shore. 

They  had  a  list  of  these  landings  on  the  tick- 
ets which  they  had  bought  of  the  captain  of 
the  boat,  as  soon  as  they  came  on  board. 
When  they  found  that  the  next  landing  was 
Rowerdennan,  all  the  party  went  up  on  deck. 
The  rain,  they  now  found,  had  ceased.  Indeed, 
the  sky  looked  quite  bright,  and  several  of  the 
passengers  were  standing  on  the  wet  deck, 
watching  for  glimpses  of  the  mountains,  which 
appeared  here  and  there  through  the  openings 
in  the  clouds.  They  saw  repeatedly  the  dark 
and  gloomy  sides  of  Ben  Lomond ;  but  a  can- 
opy of  dense  and  heavy  clouds  rested  upon  and 
concealed  the  summit. 

The  boys  obtained  a  glimpse  of  a  stone 
house,  nearly  enveloped  in  trees,  at  a  little  dis- 
tance from  the  shore,  as  they  approached  the 
land.  This  they  supposed  was  the  inn,  as 
there  was  no  other  house  in  sight. 

The  steamer  drew  up  to  the  pier.  The  pier 
was  very  small.  It  was  built  of  timbers,  and 
extended  a  little  way  out  over  the  water,  from 
a  solitary  place  on  the  shore.  Every  passenger 
that  left  the  boat  had  to  pay  twopence  for  the 
privilege  of  landing  upon  it.      The  porter  of 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  79 

the  inn  stood  there,  with  a  leather  bag  hung 
over  his  neck,  to  collect  this  toll.  On  this 
occasion,  however,  he  got  only  sixpence,  as 
Mr.  George  and  the  two  boys  were  the  only 
passengers  that  landed. 

The  place  was  very  wild  and  solitary.  There 
was  no  house,  or  building  of  any  kind,  in 
sight.  There  was  a  narrow  road,  however, 
that  led  along  the  shore  of  the  lake,  from  the 
pier  towards  the  point  of  land  which  the 
steamer  had  passed  in  coming  to  the  pier,  and 
the  porter  told  Mr.  George  that  that  was  the 
road  that  led  to  the  inn. 

"If  you  will  walk  on,"  said  the  porter,  "I 
will  bring  your  luggage. ' ' 

There  were  some  boards  and  small  timbers 
on  the  deck  of  the  vessel,  which  were  to  be 
landed  here,  and  the  porter  remained  in  order 
to  receive  them,  while  Mr.  George  and  the 
boys  went  on.     They  soon  came  to  the  inn. 

They  entered  it  from  behind,  through  a  very 
pleasant  yard,  surrounded  with  trees  and  gar- 
dens, and  out-buildings  of  various  kinds.  Mr. 
George  went  in,  followed  by  the  boys,  and  was 
shown  into  the  coffee  room.  From  the  win- 
dows of  this  room  there  was  a  very  pretty  view 
of  the  lake,  through  an  opening  among  the 
trees  of  the  garden. 

"And  now  what  are  we  going  to  do?"  said 
Waldron,  after  they  had  all  looked  at  the  view 
as  much  as  they  wished.  "I  am  going  to  have 
a  fire,"  said  Mr.  George,  "and  then  sit  down 
here  and  make  myself  comfortable  until  it 
clears  away.     You  and  Rollo  can  join  me,  or 


80  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

you  can  form  any  other  plan  that  you  like  bet- 
ter." 

"We'll  go  a-fishing,"  said  Waldron. 

"Or  else  go  up  on  Ben  Lomond,"  said  Rollo. 
"How  high  is  Ben  Lomond,  uncle  George?" 

"It  is  between  three  and  four  thousand 
feet,"  said  Mr.  George.  "We  will  all  go  up 
to-morrow  if  it  clears  away." 

But  Waldron  did  not  wish  to  go  up  the 
mountain.  He  preferred  to  go  a-fishing  on  the 
lake.  He  did  not  express  his  preference  very 
strongly  at  this  time,  but  in  the  course  of  the 
afternoon  he  persuaded  Rollo  that  it  would  be 
a  great  deal  better  for  thera  to  go  out  a  fishing 
on  the  lake,  and  perhaps  go  across  the  lake  to 
the  opposite  shore,  rather  than  to  go  up  the 
mountain ;  and  he  induced  Rollo  to  join  him 
in  a  request  that  Mr.  George  would  let  them  go 
out  on  the  lake,  while  he  went  up  the  moun- 
tain, if  he  wished  to  ascend  it. 

"We  can  have  a  boat  and  a  boatman,"  said 
Waldron.  "The  boatman  will  row  us,  and 
take  care  of  us,  and  that  will  be  perfectly  safe. 
And  Rollo  would  like  that  plan  best,  too." 

In  forming  this  scheme  Waldron  and  Rollo 
made  a  mistake;  and  it  was  a  mistake  that  boys 
are  very  apt  to  fall  into  when  they  are  invited 
to  go  on  excursions  with  their  parents,  or 
uncles,  or  older  brothers.  It  is  naturally  to  be 
supposed  that  the  tastes  and  inclinations  of 
boys,  in  such  cases,  should  often  be  different 
from  those  of  the  grown  persons  they  are  with, 
and  should  lead  them  to  wish  frequently  to  de- 
viate, more  or  less,  from   the  plans  formed 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  81 

But  it  is  a  great  source  of  inconvenience  to 
those  whom  they  are  with  to  have  them  often 
propose  such  deviations.  In  this  case,  for  ex- 
ample, Mr.  George  had  come  a  long  distance, 
and  incurred  very  heavy  expenses,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seeing  the  Scottish  Highlands.  Unless 
he  could  now  really  see  them,  of  course,  all  his 
time  and  money  would  be  lost.  The  pleasure 
of  going  a-fishing  is,  doubtless,  often  very 
great,  but  this  was  not  the  time  nor  the  place 
for  enjoying  it.  In  acceding  to  the  arrange- 
ment to  come  with  Mr.  George  to  the  High- 
lands, the  boys  ought  to  have  considered  them- 
selves joined  with  him  in  a  tour  for  instruction 
and  improvement,  and  as  committed  to  the 
plans  which  he  might  form,  from  time  to  time, 
for  acomplishing  the  objects  of  the  tour.  By 
proposing,  as  they  did,  to  deviate  on  every  oc- 
casion from  these  plans,  and  wishing  to  turn 
aside  from  the  proper  duty  of  tourists,  in  search 
of  such  boyish  pleasures  as  might  be  enjoyed 
just  as  well  at  home,  they  failed  signally  in  ful- 
filling the  obligations  which  they  incurred  in 
undertaking  the  tour  under  Mr.  George's 
charge. 

Let  all  the  boys  and  girls,  therefore,  who 
read  this  book,  remember  that  whenever,  either 
by  invitation  or  otherwise,  they  are  joined  to 
any  party  of  which  a  grown  person  has  charge, 
or  when  they  accompany  a  grown  person  on 
any  excursion  whatever,  they  go  to  share  his 
pleasures,  not  to  substitute  their  own  for  his, 
and  thus  to  interfere  with  and  thwart  the  plans 
which  he  had  formed.     Boys  often  violate  this 

0    Scotland 


82  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

rule  from  want  of  thought,  and  without  intend- 
ing to  do  anything  wrong.  This  was  the  case 
in  this  instance,  in  respect  to  Waldron  and 
Rollo. 

"They  are  good  boys,"  said  Mr.  George  to 
himself,  in  thinking  of  the  subject.  "They  do 
not  mean  to  do  anything  wrong ;  but  they  do 
not  understand  the  case.  I  will  take  an  oppor- 
tunity soon  to  explain  it  to  them." 

It  is  no  time,  however,  to  explain  to  a  boy 
why  it  is  not  best  that  he  should  do  a  particu- 
lar thing,  when  he  wishes  to  do  it  and  you  for- 
bid him.  His  mind  is  then  too  much  occupied 
with  his  disappointment,  and  perhaps  with 
vexation,  to  listen  to  the  reasons.  Forbid  him, 
if  it  is  necessary  to  do  so,  but  reserve  the  ex- 
planation till  some  future  time. 

Mr.  George  got  over  the  difficulty  in  this 
case  in  a  very  pleasant  manner  to  all  con- 
cerned. The  rain  ceased  entirely  about  noon, 
but  the  paths  on  the  mountain  he  knew  would 
be  too  wet  to  make  it  agreeable  to  ascend  that 
day;  so  he  told  the  boys  that  if  they  would  find 
the  boat  and  the  man,  and  make  all  the 
arrangements,  he  would  go  out  with  them  on 
the  lake;  and  that,  if  they  would  agree  to 
write  a  chapter  for  his  journal,  and  write  it  as 
well  as  they  had  written  their  accounts  of  their 
excursion  to  Greenock,  he  would  stop  an  hour 
on  the  way,  to  let  them  fish. 

"And  then,"  said  he,  "we'll  all  ascend  the 
mountain  together  to-morrow." 

This  proposal  was  readily  agreed  to  on  the 
part  of  the  boys,  and  the  compact  was  accord- 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  83 

ingly  made.  They  engaged  the  boat  and  the 
man,  and  after  dinner  they  all  three  embarked. 
The  rain  had  ceased,  but  the  sky  was  covered 
with  clouds,  and  heavy  masses  of  mist  were 
driving  along  the  sides  and  over  the  summits 
of  the  mountains.  The  weather,  however, 
remained  tolerably  favorable  until  the  boat 
had  nearly  reached  the  opposite  shore  of  the 
lake ;  but  then  a  dense  mass  of  clouds  came 
down  from  the  mountains  on  the  eastern  side, 
and  the  whole  shore  was  soon  concealed  from 
view  by  the  driving  scuds  and  the  falling  rain. 
The  boatman  pulled  hard  to  reach  the  shore 
before  the  shower  should  come  on.  The  gust 
overtook  them,  however,  when  they  were  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  landing.  Fortu- 
nately, the  wind,  though  very  violent,  was 
fair,  and  it  drove  them  on  towards  the  shore. 
Mr.  George  and  the  boys  sat  dow  in  the  bottom 
of  the  boat,  at  the  stern,  and  spreading  a  large 
umbrella  behind  them,  they  sheltered  them- 
selves as  well  as  they  could  from  the  wind  and 
the  rain.     The  poor  boatman  got  very  wet. 

They  found  shelter  when  they  reached  the 
land,  and  soon  the  shower  passed  away.  Then, 
after  rambling  about  a  short  time  among  the 
huts  and  cottages  of  the  village  where  they 
landed,  they  set  out  again  on  their  return. 
They  stopped  to  fish  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  shore  on  the  eastern  side,  and  were  quite 
successful.  The  boys  caught  several  trout, 
which  they  resolved  to  have  fried  for  their 
breakfast  the  next  morning.  While  they  were 
fishing,   Mr.  George  sat  in  the  stern  of    the 


84  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

boat,  studying  his  guide  books,  and  learning 
all  he  could  about  the  remarkable  events  in 
the  life  of  Rob  Roy,  the  great  Highland  chief- 
tain, who  formerly  lived  on  the  shores  of  Loch 
Lomond,  and  performed  many  daring  exploits 
there,  which  have  given  him  a  great  name  in 
Scottish  history. 

It  was  a  little  after  nine  o'clock  when  they 
returned  to  the  inn. 

The  next  morning  the  plan  of  ascending  the 
mountain  was  carried  into  effect.  Mr.  George 
hired  two  horses,  intending  to  take  turns  with 
the  boys  in  riding  them.  By  having  two  horses 
for  three  riders,  each  one  could,  of  course,  ride 
two-thirds  of  the  way.  This  is  better  than  for 
each  one  to  ride  all  the  way,  as  that  is  very 
tiresome.  Both  in  ascending  and  descending 
mountains  it  relieves  and  rests  the  traveler  to 
walk  a  part  of  the  way. 

The  top  of  the  mountain  was  distinctly  in 
sight  from  the  inn,  and  almost  the  whole  course 
of  the  path  which  led  up  to  it,  for  there  were 
no  woods  to  intercept  the  view.  The  distance 
was  five  or  six  miles.  The  path  was  a  con- 
stant and  gradual  ascent  nearly  all  the  way, 
and  lay  through  a  region  entirely  open  in  every 
direction.  There  was  a  perfect  sea  of  hills  on 
every  side,  all  covered  with  moss,  ferns,  and 
heather  with  scarcely  a  tree  of  any  kind  to  be 
seen  except  those  that  fringed  the  shores  of 
the  lake  down  in  the  valley.  The  view  from 
the  summit  was  very  extended,  but  the  wind 
blew  there  so  bleak  and  cold  that  the  whole 
party  were  very  glad  to  leave    it  and  come 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  85 

down,  after  a  very  brief  survey  of  the  pros- 
pect. 

In  coming  down  the  mountain  the  party 
stopped  at  a  spring,  to  rest  themselves  and  to 
drink ;  and  here,  as  they  were  sitting  together 
on  the  flat  stones  that  lay  about  the  spring, 
Mr.  George  explained  to  the  two  boys  what  I 
have  already  explained  in  this  chapter  to  the 
reader,  in  respect  to  the  duty  of  boys,  when 
traveling  under  the  charge  of  a  grown  person, 
to  fall  in  with  their  leader's  plans  instead  of 
forming  independent  plans  of  their  own. 

"When  you  are  at  home,"  said  he,  "and 
playing  among  yourselves,  and  with  other  per- 
sons of  your  own  age,  then  you  can  form  your 
own  plans,  and  arrange  parties  and  excursions 
for  just  such  purposes  and  objects  as  you  think 
will  amuse  you  most.  But  we  are  now  travel- 
ing for  improvement,  not  for  play.  We  are 
making  a  tour  in  Scotland  for  the  purpose  of 
learning  all  we  can  about  Scotland,  with  a  view 
to  obtain  more  full  and  correct  ideas  respecting 
it  than  we  could  obtain  by  books  alone.  So 
we  must  attend  to  our  duty,  and  be  content 
with  such  enjoyments  and  such  pleasures  as 
come  in  our  way,  and  not  turn  aside  from  our 
duty  to  seek  them." 

The  boys  both  saw  that  this  was  reasonable 
and  right,  and  they  promised  that  thenceforth 
they  would  act  on  that  principle. 

"We  won't  ask  to  go  a-fishing  again  all  the 
time  we  are  in  Scotland,"  said  Waldron. 

"That's  right,"  said  Mr.  George.  "And 
now   as  soon  as  we  get  to  the  hotel  it  will  be 


86  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

time  for  the  boat  to  come  along ;  and  all  the 
rest  of  our  adventures  to-day  you  and  Rollo 
must  write  an  account  of  to  put  into  my  jour- 
nal. You  will  not  write  the  account  till  you 
get  to  Stirling,  but  you  had  better  take  notice 
of  what  we  do,  and  what  we  see,  so  as  to  be 
ready  to  write  it  when  we  arrive." 

"May  we  take  notes?"  asked  Rollo. 

"Certainly,"  said  Mr.  George.  "That  will 
be  an  excellent  plan.  Have  a  small  piece  of 
paper  and  a  pencil  at  hand,  and  when  you  see 
anything  remarkable,  make  a  memorandum  of 
it.  That  will  help  you  very  much  when  you 
come  to  write." 

This  plan  was  carried  into  effect.  The  boys 
wrote  their  account,  and  after  it  was  duly  cor- 
rected it  was  carefully  transcribed  into  Mr. 
George's  journal.  It  was  as  follows.  Rollo 
wrote  one-half  of  it,  and  Waldron  the  other. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  87 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   TOUR   OF    THE    TROSSACHS. 

"The  Trossachs  is  the  name  of  a  narrow 
gorge  among  the  mountains.  It  begins  at  the 
end  of  a  lake,  and  extends  about  two  or  three 
miles.  The  sides  are  covered  with  forests,  and 
there  are  high,  sharp  rocks  seen  everywhere, 
peeping  out  among  the  trees. 

"The  pass  of  the  Trossachs  is  not  in  the 
same  valley  that  Loch  Lomond  lies  in,  but  in 
another  valley  almost  parallel  to  it,  about  five 
miles  off.  There  is  high  land  between.  We 
had  to  cross  this  high  land  on  foot,  or  in  a  car- 
riage. The  plan  was  to  go  up  the  lake  a  few 
miles  farther,  to  a  landing  called  Inversnaid, 
and  there  leave  the  boat,  and  go  across  the 
mountains. 

"When  it  was  nearly  time  for  the  boat  to 
come,  we  took  our  valise  and  other  things,  and 
walked  along  the  shore  path  till  we  came  to  the 
pier.  We  overtook  some  other  people  who 
were  going  in  the  boat,  too.  A  soldier  came 
along,  also.  He  was  one  of  the  sappers  and 
miners,  that  we  saw  on  the  top  of  Ben  Lo- 
mond. He  told  me  that  he  came  down  to  get 
some  things  that  were  coming  in  the  boat. 

"We  waited  on  the  pier  a  few  minutes,  and 
then  we  saw  the  boat  coming  around  a  point  of 


88  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

land.  As  soon  as  she  came  up  to  the  pier  we 
all  got  in,  and  a  gentleman  and  two  ladies 
came  on  the  shore. 

"The  weather  was  very  pleasant,  and  so  we 
did  not  go  down  into  the  cabin.  All  the  pas- 
sengers were  on  the  deck,  looking  at  the  moun- 
tains. I  talked  with  some  of  them.  One  party 
came  from  New  York,  and  the  gentleman 
asked  me  what  there  was  to  see  at  Rowerden- 
nan  Inn ;  and  so  I  told  him  about  our  going 
across  the  lake,  and  about  our  ascending  the 
mountain.  He  said  he  wished  that  he  had 
landed,  too,  so  that  he  might  go  up  the  moun- 
tain, since  it  proved  to  be  such  a  pleasant  day. 

"Uncle  George  gave  Waldron  and  me  leave 
to  go  up  on  the  bridge  to  see  the  mountains 
before  us,  up  the  lake.  They  looked  very  dark 
and  gloomy.  The  captain  was  there.  He  told 
us  the  names  of  the  mountains  that  were  in 
sight.  He  said  that  when  we  landed  at  Inver- 
snaid  we  should  go  across  the  high  land,  and 
then  should  come  to  another  lake,  where  was 
another  steamboat,  only  she  had  not  com- 
menced her  trips  yet,  and  so  we  should  have  to 
go  down  the  other  lake  in  a  row  boat.  Wal- 
dron and  I  were  both  glad  of  that. 

"At  last  we  came  to  Inversnaid.  We 
thought  it  would  be  a  town,  but  it  was  not.  It 
was  only  an  inn  on  the  slope  of  the  mountain, 
near  the  shore,  and  by  the  side  of  a  waterfall. 
We  walked  up  a  steep  path  to  the  inn,  from  the 
pier.  We  had  to  pay  twopence  apiece  for  the 
privilege  of  landing  on  the  pier.  Uncle 
George  asked  us  whether  we  would  rather  walk 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  89 

or  ride  across  the  high  land  to  the  other  val- 
ley. We  said  we  did  not  care.  He  said  that 
he  would  rather  ride.  So  he  engaged  one  of 
the  machines.  They  call  the  carriages  ma- 
chines. There  were  two  standing  in  the  inn 
yard.  There  were  two  seats  to  these  car- 
riages, but  no  top,  and  very  little  room  for  any 
baggage.  So  it  was  lucky  for  us  that  we  had 
so  little. 

"While  the  hostler  was  harnessing  the  horse 
we  went  to  see  the  waterfall.  There  was  a 
path  leading  to  it  through  the  bushes.  There 
was  a  small  foot  bridge  over  the  stream,  just 
below  the  waterfall,  where  we  could  stand  and 
see  the  water  tumbling  down  over  the  rocks. 
"While  we  were  there  they  called  us  to  tell  us 
that  the  machine  was  ready.  So  we  went  back 
to  the  inn.  There  were  two  machines  ready 
at  the  door.  One  was  for  another  party. 
There  was  a  lady  in  that  machine,  and  it  was 
just  starting.  Ours  was  just  starting,  too. 
They  told  us  that  there  was  a  steep  hill  at  the 
beginning,  and  that  it  was  customary  for  the 
gentlemen  to  walk  up. 

"So  we  walked  up.  The  road  lay  along  the 
brink  of  a  deep  ravine,  with  the  brook  that 
made  the  waterfall  tumbling  along  over  the 
rocks  at  the  bottom  of  it. 

"When  we  got  to  the  top  of  the  hill  the  ma- 
chine stopped,  and  we  all  got  in.  Waldron 
rode  on  the  front  seat  with  the  driver,  and 
uncle  George  and  I  rode  behind. 

"The  country  was  very  wild  and  dreary. 
There  was  nothing  to  be  seen  all  around  but 


40  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

hills  and  mountains,  all  covered  with  brakes 
and  ferns,  and  moss  and  heather.  There  were 
no  woods,  no  pastures,  no  fields,  and  no  farm 
houses.  It  was  the  dreariest-looking  country 
I  ever  saw.  In  the  middle  of  the  way  we  came 
to  some  old  stone  hovels,  with  thatched  roofs 
— very  dismal-looking  dwellings  indeed.  There 
was  usually  one  door  and  one  little  window  by 
the  side  of  it.  The  window  was  about  as  big 
as  you  would  make  for  a  horse,  in  the  side  of 
a  stable.  I  looked  into  one  of  these  hovels. 
There  was  no  floor,  only  flat  stones  laid  in  the 
ground,  and  scarcely  any  furniture.  The  Irish 
shanties,  where  they  are  making  railroads  in 
America,  are  very  pretty  houses  compared  to 
them. 

"The  driver  told  us  that  the  whole  country 
belonged  to  a  duke.  He  keeps  it  to  shoot 
grouse  in,  in  the  fall  of  the  year.  The  grouse 
is  a  bird  like  a  partridge.  They  live  on  the 
heather.     I  saw  some  of  them  flying  about. 

"The  road  was  very  good.  The  duke  made 
it,  the  driver  said.  We  could  see  the  road  a 
great  way  before  us,  along  the  valley.  By-and- 
by  we  saw  some  people  coming.  They  were  a 
great  way  off,  but  we  could  see  that  they  were 
travelers,  by  the  umbrellas,  and  shawls,  and 
knapsacks  they  had  in  their  hands.  Presently 
we  could  see  a  man  coming  up  a  hill  just  be- 
fore them  with  a  wheelbarrow  load  of  trunks 
that  he  was  wheeling  along.  So  we  knew 
that  it  was  a  party  of  travelers,  coming  across 
from  Loch  Katrine  to  Loch  Lomond ;  but  we 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  91 

wondered  why  they  did  not  take  a  machine, 
and  ride. 

"When  we  came  up  to  them  we  stopped  a 
moment  to  talk  to  them.  There  were  two  gen- 
tlemen and  two  ladies.  One  of  the  ladies 
looked  pretty  tired.  They  said  that  there  were 
no  machines  on  the  side  of  the  mountain  where 
they  came  from,  and  that  there  was  a  party 
there,  that  arrived  before  them,  who  had  en- 
gaged the  first  machines  that  should  come ;  and 
so  they  were  obliged  to  walk,  and  to  have  their 
trunks  wheeled  over  on  a  wheelbarrow. 

"Afterward  we  met  another  party  walking 
in  the  same  way,  with  their  trunks  on  a  wheel- 
barrow. We  thought  that  five  miles  was  a 
great  way  to  wheel  trunks  on  a  wheelbarrow. 

"At  last  we  came  to  what  they  called  Loch 
Katrine,  but  it  seemed  to  me  nothing  but  a 
pond  among  the  mountains.  It  was  only  about 
ten  miles  long.  There  was  an  inn  on  the 
shore,  but  no  village. 

"There  was  a  pier  there,  too,  and  some  boats 
drawn  up  on  the  beach.  At  a  little  distance 
they  were  putting  together  an  iron  steamboat 
on  the  stocks.  The  parts  were  all  made  in 
Glasgow,  and  brought  here  by  the  same  way 
that  we  had  come.  The  old  steamboat  of  last 
year  was  floating  in  the  water  near  by.  The 
steam  pipe  was  rusty,  and  she  looked  as  if  she 
had  been  abandoned.  The  name  of  her  was 
the  Rob  Roy. 

"We  were  glad  that  the  new  one  was  not 
ready,  for  we  liked  better  to  go  in  a  row  boat. 

"So  we  engaged  one  of  the  boats,  and  went 


92  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

down  to  it  on  the  beach,  and  put  our  baggage 
in.  And  this  is  the  end  of  my  part  of  the 
account.     Waldron  is  to  write  the  rest. 

"Rollo." 


"We  all  got  into  the  boat;  that  is,  we  three, 
and  some  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  that 
came  over  the  mountain  about  the  same  time 
with  us.  The  wind  was  blowing  pretty  fresh, 
and  the  middle  of  the  lake  was  very  rough, 
and  some  of  the  ladies  were  afraid  to  go;  but 
we  told  them  there  was  no  danger. 

"The  boatman  said  that  we  would  go  right 
across  the  loch,  and  then  we  should  get  under 
the  lee  of  the  land  on  the  eastern  shore,  and 
there  we  should  be  sheltered  from  the  wind, 
and  the  water  would  be  smooth. 

"I  told  him  that  I  could  row,  and  asked  him 
to  let  me  take  one  of  the  oars ;  and  he  said  I 
might.  But  one  of  the  ladies  was  afraid  to 
have  me  do  it.  She  said  she  was  afraid  that  I 
should  upset  the  boat. 

"This  was  nonsense;  for  it  is  not  possible  to 
upset  a  boat  by  any  kind  of  rowing,  if  it  is 
ever  so  bad. 

"The  boatman  told  her  th«t  there  was  no 
danger,  and  that,  if  I  could  really  row,  I  could 
help  him  so  much  that  we  should  get  across  the 
part  of  the  lake  where  the  wind  blew  and  the 
waves  run  high  so  much  the  sooner.  So  she 
consented  at  last,  and  I  took  one  of  the  oars, 
and  we  rowed  across  the  loch  in  fine  style.  We 
pitched  about  a  good  deal  in  the  middle  pas- 
sage, and  the  lady  was  dreadfully  frightened ; 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  93 

but  when  we  got  across,  the  water  became 
smooth,  and  we  sailed  very  pleasantly  along 
the  shore. 

"The  shores  were  winding  and  very  pretty, 
and  the  farther  we  went  the  narrower  the  lake 
became,  and  the  mountains  became  higher  and 
higher.  At  last  we  came  to  a  narrow  place 
between  two  mountains,  where  the  pass  of 
the  Trossachs  began.  The  mountain  on  one 
side  was  Ben  Venue.  The  one  on  the  other 
side  was  Benan.  The  shores  at  the  foot  of 
these  mountains  were  covered  with  woods,  and 
the  place  was  very  wild.  There  was  an  island 
in  the  middle  of  the  lake  here,  called  Ellen's 
Isle.  This  island  was  high  and  rocky,  and 
covered  with  woods,  like  the  shores  adjacent 
to  it. 

"This  island  is  very  famous,  on  account  of  a 
poem  that  Walter  Scott  wrote  about  it,  called 
the  Lady  of  the  Lake.  The  lake  was  this 
Loch  Katrine,  and  the  lady  was  Ellen.  She 
went  back  and  forth  to  the  island  in  a  boat,  in 
some  way  or  other,  but  I  do  not  know  the 
story  exactly.  Mr.  George  is  going  to  buy  the 
Lady  of  the  Lake  when  we  get  to  Edinburgh, 
and  read  it  to  us,  and  then  we  shall  know. 

"The  island  is  small  and  rocky,  but  it  is  so 
covered  with  trees  and  bushes  that  we  hardly 
see  the  rocks.  They  peep  out  here  and  there. 
The  banks  rise  very  steep,  and  the  water  looks 
very  deep  close  to  the  shore.  We  sailed  by 
the  island,  and  then  the  water  grew  narrower 
and  narrower,  until  at  last  we  were  closely 
shut  in,  and  then  soon  we  came  to  the  landing. 


94  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"There  was  nothing  but  a  hut  at  the  land- 
ing, and  a  narrow  road,  which  began  then  and 
led  down  the  valley.  The  valley  was  very 
narrow,  and  there  were  steep  rocks  and  moun- 
tains on  both  sides.  They  told  us  that  it  was 
a  mile  and  a  quarter  to  the  inn,  and  that  there 
was  no  other  way  to  go  but  to  walk.  The 
boatman  said  that  he  would  bring  the  bag- 
gage; so  we  left  it  under  his  care,  all  except 
our  knapsacks,  and  walked  along. 

"We  walked  about  a  mile  down  the  valley, 
by  a  very  winding  road,  with  rocks,  and  trees, 
and  very  high  mountains  on  both  sides.  At 
last  we  came  in  sight  of  a  tall  spire.  I  thought 
it  was  a  church.  In  a  minute  another  spire 
came  into  view,  and  two  great  towers.  Rollo 
thought  it  was  a  castle.  I  said  that  a  castle 
would  not  have  a  spire  on  it.  Rollo  said  that 
a  church  would  not  have  two  spires  on  it.  It 
turned  out  that  both  of  us  were  mistaken ;  for 
the  building  was  the  inn. 

"It  was  a  very  extraordinary  looking  inn. 
It  was  built  of  stone,  with  towers  and  battle- 
ments, like  an  old  castle.  The  inside  was  very 
extraordinary,  too.  The  public  room  looked, 
as  Mr.  George  said,  like  an  old  Gothic  hall  of 
the  middle  ages.  There  were  tables  set  out 
here  for  people  to  have  breakfasts  and  dinners, 
and  Mr.  George  ordered  a  dinner  for  us. 
There  were  other  parties  of  tourists  there, 
some  coming,  and  some  going. 

"While  the  dinner  was  getting  ready,  Rollo 
and  I  walked  about  the  inn,  and  in  the  yards. 
It  was  a  very  curious  place  indeed.     Close 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  95 

behind  it  were  lofty  mountains,  which,  Rollo 
said,  looked  like  the  mountains  of  Switzerland ; 
only  there  were  no  snow  peaks  on  the  top  of 
them.  There  was  no  village,  and  there  were 
no  houses  near,  except  two  or  three  stone  hov- 
els in  the  woods  behind  the  inn.  Before  the 
inn,  in  a  little  valley  just  below  it,  was  a  pond, 
such  as  they  call  here  a  loch. 

"Mr.  George  decided  to  go  directly  on  to 
Stirling,  because  it  was  Saturday  night,  and  he 
did  not  wish,  he  said,  to  spend  Sunday  at  such 
a  lonesome  inn.  So  we  hired  a  carriage  and 
set  off.  Immediately  we  began  to  come  out 
from  the  mountains,  and  to  get  into  the  level 
country.  The  country  soon  grew  very  beau- 
tiful. The  sun  was  behind  our  backs,  and  it 
shone  right  upon  everything  that  we  wished  to 
see,  and  made  the  whole  country  look  very 
green  and  very  brilliant.  There  were  parks, 
and  gardens,  and  pleasure  grounds,  and  queer 
villages,  and  ruins  of  old  castles  on  the  hills, 
and  little  lochs  in  the  valleys,  and  everything 
beautiful. 

"At  last  we  came  in  sight  of  Stirling  Castle. 
It  stood  on  the  top  of  a  high,  rocky  hill.  The 
hill  was  very  high  and  steep  on  all  sides  but 
one,  where  it  sloped  down  toward  the  town. 
The  country  all  around  was  very  level,  so  that 
we  could  see  the  castle  a  great  many  miles 
away. 

"We  rode  around  the  foot  of  the  castle  hill, 
under  the  rocks,  and  at  last  came  into  the 
town,  and  drove  to  the  hotel. 

"Waldron." 


96  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 


CHAPTER   X. 


STIRLING. 


Stirling  Castle  crowns  the  summit  of  a  rocky 
hill,  which  rises  on  the  banks  of  the  Forth,  in 
the  midst  of  a  vast  extent  of  level  and  richly- 
cultivated  country.  It  is,  of  course,  a  very 
conspicuous  object  from  all  the  region  around. 

The  hill  is  long  and  narrow.  The  length  of 
it  extends  from  north  to  south.  The  northern 
end  is  the  high  end.  The  land  slopes  gently 
toward  the  south,  but  the  other  sides  are  steep, 
and  in  many  places  they  form  perpendicular 
precipices  of  rock,  with  the  castle  walls  built 
on  the  very  brink  of  them. 

The  town  lies  chiefly  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
toward  the  south,  though  there  are  one  or  two 
streets,  bordered  by  quaint  and  queer  old 
buildings  that  lead  all  the  way  up  to  the 
castle. 

In  front  of  the  castle,  at  the  place  where  these 
streets  terminate,  is  a  broad  space,  smoothly 
graveled,  called  the  esplanade.  This  is  used 
as  a  parade  ground,  for  drilling  and  training 
the  new  soldiers,  and  teaching  them  the 
manoeuvres  and  exercises  necessary  to  be  prac- 
ticed in  the  war. 

On  Sunday  morning,  after  breakfast,  Mr. 
George  and  the  boys  went  out,  to  go  to  church. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  97 

Bells  were  ringing  in  various  parts  of  the 
town.  They  were  drawn,  by  some  invisible 
attraction,  up  the  hill,  in  the  direction  of  the 
castle.  They  soon  found  other  people  going 
the  same  way;  and  following  them,  they  came, 
at  length,  to  a  very  ancient-looking  mass  of 
buildings,  which,  Mr.  George  said,  he  should 
have  thought  was  an  old  abbey,  gone  to  ruin, 
if  it  were  not  that  the  people  were  all  going 
into  it,  under  a  great  arched  doorway.  So  he 
supposed  it  was  a  church,  and  he  and  the  boys 
went  in  with  the  rest. 

There  was  a  man  at  the  door  holding  a  large 
silver  plate,  to  receive  the  contributions  of  the 
people  that  came  in.  Mr.  George  stopped  to 
get  some  money  out  of  his  pocket.  The  man 
then  seemed  to  perceive  that  he  was  a 
stranger;  so  he  said  to  him,  speaking  with  a 
broad  Scotch  accent  and  intonation, — 

"Ye  wull  gaeinto  the  magistrates'  seat.  Or 
stay — I  wull  send  a  mon  wi*  ye,  to  show  ye 
the  wa'." 

So  he  called  a  door  keeper,  and  the  door 
keeper  led  the  way  upstairs,  into  a  gallery. 
The  gallery  was  very  wide,  and  was  supported 
by  enormous  pillars.  The  whole  interior  of 
the  church  had  a  very  quaint  and  antique  air. 
The  magistrate's  seat  was  the  front  seat  of  the 
gallery.  It  was  a  very  nice  seat,  and  was  well 
cushioned.  Before  it,  all  around,  was  a  sort 
of  desk,  for  the  Bibles  and  Hymn  Books  to 
rest  upon. 

There  were  three  pulpits — or  what  seemed 
to  the  boys  to   be   pulpits — one   behind   and 

7    Scotland 


88  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

above  the  other.  The  highest  was  for  the  min- 
ister ;  the  next  below  was  for  what  in  America 
would  be  called  the  leader  of  the  choir ;  though 
in  Scotland,  Mr.  George  said  he  believed  he 
was  called  the  precentor.  There  was  no  choir 
of  singers,  as  with  us,  but  when  the  minister 
gave  out  a  hymn  the  precentor  rose  and  com- 
menced the  singing,  and  when  he  had  got  near 
the  end  of  the  first  line  all  the  congregation 
joined  in,  and  sang  the  hymn  with  him  to  the 
end.  The  third  pulpit  was  only  a  sort  of  chair, 
enclosed  at  the  sides  and  above.  What  the 
man  did  who  sat  in  it  the  boys  could  not  find 
out. 

All  the  people  in  the  church  had  Bibles  on 
a  sloping  board  before  them,  in  their  pews, 
and  when  the  minister  named  the  text  or  read 
a  chapter,  they  all  turned  to  the  place,  and 
looked  over.  Waldron  said  he  thought  that 
this  was  an  excellent  plan. 

Mr.  George  and  the  boys  all  liked  the  ser- 
mon very  much  indeed,  and  when  the  service 
was  ended,  they  walked  a  little  way  around 
the  esplanade  before  the  castle,  and  then  went 
home  to  dinner. 

In  the  course  of  their  excursion,  however, 
they  had  observed  that  a  great  many  walks 
had  been  made  at  different  elevations  on  the 
west  side  of  the  hill,  and  that  seats  were 
placed  there  at  different  points,  for  resting 
places.  These  seats,  and  indeed  the  walks 
themselves,  commanded  charming  views  of  all 
the  surrounding  country.  The  boys  wanted 
to  run  up  and  down  these  paths,  and  explore 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  99 

the  sides  of  the  hill  by  means  of  them  in  every 
part ;  but  Mr.  George  recommended  to  them 
to  wait  till  the  next  day. 

"We  shall  come  up  to-morrow,"  said  he,  "to 
visit  the  castle,  and  then  we  will  come  out  here, 
and  have  a  picnic,  on  one  of  these  stone  seats. 
After  that  I  will  find  a  place  among  the  rocks 
to  read  or  write,  for  an  hour,  and  while  I  am 
there  you  may  climb  about  among  the  rocks 
and  precipices  as  much  as  you  please. " 

The  next  morning  the  boys  set  out  with  Mr. 
George,  soon  after  breakfast,  to  go  up  to  the 
castle.  When  they  reached  the  esplanade 
they  found  several  small  parties  of  soldiers 
there,  under  instruction.  They  all  wore  red 
coats — that  being  the  ordinary  uniform  of  Brit- 
ish soldiers.  Officers  were  marching  them 
about,  and  teaching  them  how  to  handle  their 
muskets,  and  to  keep  step,  and  to  wheel  this 
way  and  that,  and  to  perform  other  such  evo- 
lutions. A  great  many  of  the  soldiers  looked 
very  young.  They  were  lads  that  had  been 
recently  enlisted,  and  were  now  being  trained 
to  go  to  the  war  in  the  Crimea. 

After  looking  at  these  soldiers  a  short  time, 
the  party  went  on.  At  the  upper  end  of  the 
esplanade  there  was  a  gateway  leading  into  the 
castle  yard.  There  was  a  sentinel,  in  a  High- 
land costume,  keeping  guard  there.  Mr. 
George  asked  him  if  the  public  were  allowed 
to  go  into  the  castle.  He  said,  "O,  yes,  cer- 
tainly;" and  so  Mr.  George  and  the  boys 
went  in. 

As  they  went  in  they  looked  up,  and  saw  a 


100  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

great  many  cannons  pointed  down  at  them 
from  the  embrasures  in  the  surrounding  ram- 
parts and  bastions. 

"Those  guns  must  be  to  keep  the  enemy 
from  coming  in,"  said  Waldron. 

Presently  the  party  passed  through  another 
arched  gateway,  and  came  into  a  large  inner 
court,  which  was  surrounded  with  various 
buildings,  all  built  of  stone,  and  of  a  very  mas- 
sive and  solid  character.  The  palace  was  on 
one  side.  It  was  adorned  with  a  great  many 
quaint  and  curious  sculptures  and  images.  The 
palace  itself,  and  all  the  other  buildings,  were 
used  as  barracks  for  soldiers.  A  great  many 
soldiers  were  standing  about  the  doors,  and 
some  were  playing  together  about  the  court. 
Some  of  them  were  dressed  in  the  common 
British  uniform,  and  some  were  in  the  High- 
land costume. 

While  the  boys  were  looking  at  the  palace 
front,  a  soldier  advanced  tov/ard  them  in  a 
very  respectful  manner,  and  said  to  Mr. 
George : 

"If  you  and  the  young  gentlemen  are  stran- 
gers in  Stirling,  I  will  walk  about  the  castle 
with  you,  and  point  out  the  objects  of  interest 
to  you,  if  you  desire  it. " 

Mr.  George  accepted  this  offer,  and  the 
young  soldier  accordingly  walked  with  them 
all  about.  He  pointed  out  all  the  different 
buildings,  and  mentioned  the  dates  of  the  erec- 
tion of  them,  and  referred  to  the  most  im- 
portant historical  events  that  had  transpired 
in  them.     Finally  he  led  the  party  through  a 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  101 

gate  into  a  small  garden,  and  thence  out  upon 
the  rampart  wall,  from  which  there  was  a 
very  extended  and  extraordinarily  beautiful 
view  of  the  surrounding  country.  To  the 
northwest  were  seen  the  Highlands,  with  the 
peaks  of  Ben  Lomond,  Ben  Venue  and  Benan 
rising  conspicuously  among  them.  On  the  east 
were  other  hills,  rising  abruptly  out  of  the 
smooth  and  smiling  plain,  and  covered  with 
dark  plantations  of  evergreen.  All  around  the 
foot  of  the  castle,  and  extending  to  the  dis- 
tance, in  some  directions,  of  many  miles,  the 
country  was  level  and  fertile,  and  it  presented 
everywhere  the  most  enchanting  pictures  of 
rural  beauty.  Some  of  the  fields  were  of  the 
richest  green,  others  were  brown  from  fresh 
tillage,  with  men  ploughing  or  harrowing  in 
them,  or  plants  just  springing  up  in  long  green 
rows,  which,  partly  on  account  of  the  distance, 
and  partly  through  the  exquisite  neatness  and 
nicety  of  farmers'  work,  looked  so  smooth, 
and  soft,  and  fine,  that  the  scene  appeared 
more  like  enchantment  than  reality. 

On  one  side  of  the  mountain  was  seen  the 
River  Forth,  winding  about  through  meadows 
and  green  fields  with  the  most  extraordinary 
turnings  and  involutions.  The  boys  had  seen 
winding  rivers  before,  but  never  anything  like 
this.  The  whole  plain  was  filled  with  the 
windings  of  the  river,  which  looked  like  the 
links  of  a  silver  chain,  lying  half  embedded 
in  a  carpet  of  the  richest  green.  Indeed, 
these  windings  of  the  river,  and  the  vast  cir- 
cular fields  of  fertile  land  which  they  enclose, 


102  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

are  called  the  Links  of  Forth.  The  view  was 
diversified  by  villages,  hamlets,  bridges,  rail- 
way embankments,  and  other  constructions, 
which  concealed  the  river  here  and  there  en- 
tirely from  view,  and  made  it  impossible  to 
trace  its  course.  The  richness  and  beauty  of 
these  Links  of  Forth  appeared  the  more  sur- 
prising to  the  boys  from  the  contrast  which  the 
scene  presented  to  the  dreary  wastes  of  moss 
and  heather  which  they  had  seen  in  the  High- 
lands. There  is  an  old  Scotch  proverb  that 
refers  to  this  contrast.     It  is  this : 

"The  lairdship  of  the  bonnie  Links  of  Forth 
Is  better  than  an  earldom  in  the  north." 

The  course  of  the  Forth  could  be  traced  for 
a  long  distance  toward  Edinburgh;  and  Ar- 
thur's Seat,  a  high  hill  near  Edinburgh,  could 
be  distinctly  seen  in  the  south-eastern  horizon. 

At  one  place,  in  an  angle  in  the  wall  of  the 
rampart,  was  a  stone  step,  so  placed  that  a 
lady,  by  standing  upon  it,  might  get  a  better 
view.  The  soldier  said  that  Queen  Victoria 
stood  upon  that  stone,  when  she  visited  Stir- 
ling Castle  a  few  years  ago,  on  her  way  to  Bal- 
moral. Balmoral  is  a  country  seat  she  has 
among  the  Highlands,  far  to  the  north,  in  the 
midst  of  the  wildest  solitudes.  The  queen 
goes  there  almost  every  summer,  in  order  to 
escape,  for  a  time,  from  the  thraldom  of  state 
ceremony,  and  the  pomp  and  parade  of  royal 
life,  and  live  in  peace  among  the  mountain 
solitudes. 

The  soldier  pointed  to  the  coping  of  the  wall, 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  103 

where  the  figure  of  a  crown  was  cut  in  the 
stone,  and  the  letters  "V.  R."  by  the  side  of 
it.  This  inscription  was  a  memorial  of  the 
queen's  having  stood  at  this  spot  to  view  and 
admire  the  beauty  of  the  scenery. 

After  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  had  seen  all 
that  they  wished  of  the  castle,  Mr.  George  gave 
the  soldier  a  shilling,  and  they  went  out  as 
they  had  gone  in,  under  the  great  archway. 
They  passed  across  the  esplanade,  and  then 
came  to  a  small,  level  piece  of  ground,  with  a 
high  rock  beyond  it,  overlooking  it.  The 
level  place  was  an  ancient  tilting  ground ;  that 
is,  a  ground  where,  in  ancient  times,  they  used 
to  have  tilts  and  tournaments,  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  people  of  the  palace,  and  of  the 
guests  who  came  to  visit  them.  The  ladies 
used  to  stand  on  the  top  of  the  rock  to  witness 
the  tournaments.  There  was  a  large,  flat  area 
there,  with  room  enough  upon  it  for  twenty  or 
thirty  ladies  to  stand  and  see.  The  rock  was 
called  the  Lady's  Rock.  The  tournaments  and 
tiltings  have  long  since  ceased,  but  it  retains 
the  name  of  the  Lady's  Rock  to  the  present 
day. 

"Let  us  go  up  on  it,"  said  Rollo,  "and  see 
where  the  ladies  stood. ' ' 

There  were  a  number  of  children  playing 
about  these  grounds,  and  several  of  them  were 
upon  the  top  of  the  Lady's  Rock.  They  looked 
ragged  and  poor.  Rollo  and  Waldron  climbed 
up  to  the  place.  The  path  was  steep  and 
rugged.      When   they  reached   the  top  they 


104  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

looked  down  to  the  level  area  where  the  tour- 
naments were  held. 

"I  don't  think  the  place  is  big  enough  for  a 
tournament,"  said  Rollo. 

"What  is  a  tournament?"  asked  Waldron. 

"A  sort  of  sham  fight  of  horsemen,"  said 
Rollo,  "that  they  used  to  have  in  old  times, 
when  they  wore  steel  armor,  and  fought  with 
spears  and  lances.  They  used  to  ride  against 
each  other  with  blunt  spears,  and  see  who  could 
knock  the  other  one  off  his  horse.  What  are 
you  laughing  at,  uncle  George?" 

Rollo  perceived  that  Mr.  George  was  smiling 
at  his  very  unromantic  mode  of  describing  a 
tournament.  "Is  not  that  what  they  used  to 
do  at  the  tournaments?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  is  a  pretty 
fair  account  of  it,  on  the  whole.  And  now, 
boys,"  he  continued,  "I  have  got  a  plan  of 
having  a  picnic  to-day,  out  under  the  castle 
walls  here,instead  of  going  to  the  hotel  for  din- 
ner ;  and  we  will  go  and  find  a  good  place  for  it. ' ' 

The  boys  said  that  they  would  like  this  plan 
very  much.  "But  then,"  said  they,  "we  have 
not  got  anything  to  eat. " 

Mr.  George  then  explained  to  them  that  the 
plan  which  he  had  formed,  was  for  them  to  go 
down  into  the  town,  and  buy  something  at  the 
shops  for  a  picnic  dinner,  while  he  remained  on 
the  rocks,  or  on  some  seat  on  the  side  of  the 
Castle  Hill,  writing  in  his  journal. 

"Well,"  said  Waldron,  "we  will  do  that. 
But  what  shall  we  buy?" 

"Whatever  you  please,"  said   Mr.    George. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  105 

"Walk  along  through  the  street,  and  look  in 
at  the  shop  windows,  and  whenever  you  see 
anything  that  you  think  we  shall  like,  buy  it." 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  "we  will.  But  how 
much  shall  we  spend?" 

"As  much  as  you  think  it  best,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "I  leave  everything  to  you.  You 
see,  our  dinner  at  the  hotel  would  not  be  less 
than  seven  shillings,  and  that  we  shall  save; 
so  that  if  you  don't  spend  more  than  seven 
shillings  you  will  be  safe." 

The  boys  were  sure  that  they  could  procure 
very  abundant  supplies  for  less  money  than 
that;  and  they  very  readily  undertook  the 
commission.  They  accordingly  left  Mr.  George 
at  a  seat  near  one  of  the  walks  on  the  side  of 
Castle  Hill,  where,  as  he  said,  he  could  look 
right  down  on  the  famous  field  of  Bannock- 
burn,  and  they  then  began  to  run  down  the 
walk,  on  the  way  toward  the  hotel. 

They  first  went  to  the  hotel  to  get  a  knapsack. 
They  told  the  waiter  there  that  they  should 
not  be  at  home  to  dinner.  They  then  walked 
along  the  street,  looking  out  for  eatables. 
They  soon  found  various  shop  windows  where 
such  things  were  displayed,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  they  had  laid  in  an 
abundant  supply  They  bought  some  small, 
flat  cakes  of  bread  at  one  place,  and  a  veal  and 
ham  pie  at  another,  and  two  oranges  apiece  at 
another,  and  a  bottle  of  milk  at  another,  and, 
finally,  for  dessert,  they  got  a  pound  of  raisins 
and  almonds  mixed  together,  which  they 
chanced  to  see  in  a  fruiterer' s  window.     The 


106  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

cost  of  the  whole,  the  boys  found,  when  they 
came  to  foot  up  the  account,  was  only  two 
shillings  and  fourpence. 

With  these  supplies  the  boys  went  up  the  hill 
again ;  not  through  the  street,  but  by  the  walk 
under  the  trees,  outside  the  town  wall.  They 
found  Mr.  George  in  the  seat  where  they  had 
left  him.  He  had  just  finished  his  writing. 
He  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  purchases 
that  the  boys  had  made,  and  they  all  sat  down 
together  on  the  stone  seat,  and  ate  their  din- 
ner with  excellent  appetites. 

While  they  were  eating  the  raisins  and 
almonds,  Mr.  George  pointed  down  to  a  beau- 
tiful field,  yellow  with  buttercups,  and  said: 

"There,  boys,  do  you  see  that  field?" 

The  boys  said  they  did. 

"It  is  the  field  of  Bannockburn.  Look  at  it, 
and  remember  it  well.  When  you  are  five 
years  older,  and  read  the  history  of  Scotland, 
you  will  take  great  pleasure  in  thinking  of  the 
day  when  you  looked  down  from  Stirling  Castle 
on  the  field  of  Bannockdurn. " 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  107 


CHAPTER  XI. 


LOCH  LEVEN. 


"And  where  are  we  going  next,  uncle 
George?"  said  Rollo,  as  they  were  all  coming 
home  to  the  hotel  from  their  Jast  walk  up  to 
the  castle. 

"I  am  going  to  Kinross,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"What  is  there  at  Kinross?"  asked  Rollo. 

"There  is  a  lake,"  said  Mr.  George,  "and  in 
the  lake  is  an  island,  and  on  the  island  are  the 
ruins  of  an  old  castle,  and  in  the  castle  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  was  imprisoned." 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "I  have  heard  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  but  I  do  not  know  much 
about  her." 

Waldron,  it  must  be  confessed,  was  not  much 
of  a  scholar.  He  had  read  very  little,  either 
of  history  or  of  anything  else. 

"What  was  she  remarkable  for?"  he  asked. 

"In  the  first  place,"  said  Mr.  George,  "she 
was  very  beautiful,  and  she  was  also  very 
lovely. " 

"That  is  the  same  thing,  is  it  not?"  said 
Rollo. 

"No,  not  by  any  means,"  said  Mr  George. 
"There  are  many  beautiful  girls  that  are  not 
lovely,  and  there  are  many  lovely  girls  that  are 
not  particularly  beautiful." 


108  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"You  mean  lovely  in  character,  I  suppose," 
said  Rollo. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  mean  lovely  in 
looks.  There  is  a  great  difference,  I  think, 
between  loveliness  and  beauty,  in  looks." 

"I  think  so,  too,"  said  Waldron. 

"Now,  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,"  continued 
Mr.  George,  "was  beautiful,  and  she  was  also 
very  lovely;  and  while  she  lived  she  charmed 
and  fascinated  almost  everybody  who  knew 
her. 

"Then,  besides,"  continued  Mr.  George, 
"her  life  was  an  exceedingly  romantic  one. 
She  met  with  an  extraordinary  number  of  most 
remarkable  adventures.  She  was  sent  to 
France,  when  she  was  a  little  child,  to  be  edu- 
cated. There  were  four  little  girls  of  her  own 
age  sent  with  her,  to  be  her  playmates  there, 
and  they  were  all  named  Mary.  She  called 
them  her  four  Marys. 

"She  grew  up  to  be  a  young  lady  in  France, 
and  married  the  king's  son,  and  she  lived  there 
for  a  time  in  great  prosperity  and  splendor. 
At  last  her  husband  died,  and  her  enemies 
came  into  power  in  France,  and  she  became 
unhappy.  Besides,  there  were  some  difficul- 
ties and  troubles  in  Scotland,  and  she  was 
obliged  to  return  to  her  native  land.  She  was, 
however,  very  unhappy  about  it.  She  loved 
France  very  much,  and  the  friends  that  she 
had  made  there,  and  when  she  came  away  she 
said  that  she  had  left  half  her  heart  behind. 

"When  we  go  to  Edinburgh,"  continued  Mr. 
George,  "we  shall  go  to  Holyrood,  and  see  the 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  109 

palace  where  she  lived.  "While  she  was  there 
a  great  many  extraordinary  and  curious  events 
and  incidents  befell  her." 

"Tell  us  about  them,"  said  Waldron. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George.  "It  would  take  me 
too  long.  You  must  read  her  history  yourself. 
It  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  story.  She 
was  accused  of  some  great  crimes,  but  man- 
kind have  never  been  able  to  decide  whether 
she  was  guilty  of  them  or  not.  Some  are  very 
sure  that  she  was  innocent,  and  some  are 
equally  positive  that  she  was  guilty." 

"What  crimes  were  they?"  asked  Wal- 
dron. 

"Why,  one  was,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  of 
murdering  her  husband.  It  was  her  second 
husband,  one  that  she  married  after  she  came 
to  Scotland.  They  did  not  live  happily  to- 
gether. He  killed  one  of  Mary's  friends, 
named  Rizzio,  and  afterward  he  was  killed 
himself.  The  house  that  he  was  in  was  blown 
up  in  the  night  with  gunpowder. ' ' 

"My!"  exclaimed  Waldron,  "I  should  like  to 
read  about  it" 

"It  is  a  very  interesting  and  curious  story," 
said  Mr.  George. 

"And  could  not  they  find  out  who  did  it?" 
asked  Waldron. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "they  found  out 
who  did  it,  but  what  they  could  not  find  out 
was,  whether  Mary  herself  took  any  part  in  the 
crime  or  not.  There  was  no  direct  proof. 
They  could  only  judge  from  the  circum- 
stances." 


X 


110  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"What  were  the  circumstances?"  asked 
Waldron. 

"O,  I  could  not  tell  you  very  well,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "It  would  take  me  half  a  day  to  tell 
the  whole  story.  You  must  get  some  life  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  read  it  for  yourself. 
You  will  have  to  begin  at  the  beginning,  and 
read  it  all  carefully  through,  and  remember  all 
the  persons  that  are  mentioned,  and  consider 
their  characters  and  motives,  and  then  you  will 
be  able  to  judge  for  yourself  about  it.  There 
have  been  a  great  many  histories  of  her  life 
written." 

"And  what  about  her  being  imprisoned  in 
the  castle  that  we  are  going  to  see?"  asked 
Waldron. 

"O,  you  must  read  and  find  out  for  yourself 
about  that,  too,"  said  Mr.  George.  "The 
country  got  into  great  difficulty,  and  two  par- 
ties were  formed,  one  of  which  was  in  favor  of 
Mary,  and  one  was  against  her.  Her  enemies 
proved  to  be  the  strongest,  and  so  they  shut 
her  up  in  this  castle.     But  she  got  away. " 

"How?"  asked  Waldron. 

"You  will  learn  all  about  it, "  replied  Mr. 
George,  "when  you  come  to  read  the  history 
of  her  life.  When  we  go  to  the  castle  you  will 
see  the  window  where  she  climbed  down  into 
the  boat." 

"Did  she  escape  in  a  boat?"  asked  Waldron. 

"I  am  positively  not  going  to  tell  you  any 
more  about  it,"  said  Mr.  George.  "You  must 
find  out  for  yourself.  Your  father  has  paid 
ever  so  much  money  to  send  you  to  school,  to 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  Ill 

have  you  educated,  so  that  you  could  read  his- 
tory for  yourself,  and  not  be  dependent  upon 
anybody;  and  now  for  me  to  tell  it  to  you 
would  be  ridiculous.  You  must  go  to  a  book- 
store, and  buy  a  history  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots,  and  begin  at  the  beginning,  and  read 
the  whole  story. ' ' 

Mr.  George  said  this  in  a  somewhat  jocose 
sort  of  manner,  and  Waldron  understood  that 
his  refusing  to  give  him  more  full  information 
about  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  arose,  not  from 
any  unwillingness  to  oblige  him,  but  only  to 
induce  him  to  read  the  story  himself,  in  full, 
which  he  knew  very  well  would  be  far  better 
for  him  than  to  receive  a  meager  statement  of 
the  principal  points  of  the  narrative  from 
another  person. 

"I  mean  to  get  the  book,"  said  Waldron,  "as 
soon  as  we  arrive  at  Edinburgh.  But  there  is 
one  thing  I  can  do,"  he  added;  "I  can  ask  the 
guide.  The  guide  that  shows  us  the  castle  will 
tell  me  how  she  got  away. ' ' 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "you  can  ask  the 
guide;  but  I  don't  believe  you  will  get  much 
satisfaction  in  that  way." 

The  next  morning  after  this  conversation 
took  place,  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  bade  Stir- 
ling farewell,  and  set  off  in  the  cars,  on  the 
way  to  Loch  Leven.  After  riding  about  an 
hour  they  left  the  train  at  the  station  called 
Dunfermline,  where  there  was  a  ruin  of  an 
abbey,  and  of  an  ancient  royal  palace  of  Scot- 
land. They  left  their  baggage  at  the  station, 
and  walked  through  the  village  till  they  came 


112  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

to  the  ruin.  It  was  a  very  beautiful  ruin,  and 
the  party  spent  more  than  an  hour  in  rambling 
about  it,  and  looking  at  the  old  monuments, 
and  the  carved  and  sculptured  windows,  and 
arches,  and  cornices,  all  wasted  and  blackened 
by  time  and  decay.  A  part  of  the  ruin  was 
still  in  good  repair,  and  was  used  as  a  church, 
though  it  was  full  of  old  sepulchral  monu- 
ments and  relics.  There  was  a  woman  in  at- 
tendance at  the  door,  to  show  the  church  to 
those  who  wished  to  see  the  interior  of  it. 

After  looking  at  these  ruins  as  long  as  they 
wished,  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  went  back  to 
the  station,  in  order  to  take  the  next  train  that 
came  by,  and  continue  their  journey.  They 
went  on  about  an  hour  longer,  and  then  they 
got  out  again  at  a  station  called  Cowdenbeath, 
which  was  the  place  on  the  road  that  was  near- 
est to  Loch  Leven,  and  where  they  had  under- 
stood that  there  was  a  coach,  which  went  to 
Lock  Leven  twice  a  day.  The  place  was  very 
quiet  and  still,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  a  green 
and  pretty  country,  with  small  groups  of  stone 
cottages  here  and  there.  There  were  also  sev- 
eral pretty  tall  chimneys  scattered  about  the 
fields,  with  a  sort  of  platform,  and  seme 
wheels  and  machinery  near  each  of  them. 
These  were  the  mouths  of  coal  pits.  The 
wheels  and  machinery  were  for  hoisting  up  the 
coal. 

In  the  yard  of  the  station  they  found  the 
Loch  Leven  coach.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  very 
short  omnibus.  The  coachman  said  that  he 
had  just  come   in  from  Loch  Leven,  and  that 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  113 

he  was  going  to  set  out  on  his  return  at  eight. 
It  was  now  about  seven,  so  that  Mr.  George 
and  the  boys  had  an  hour  to  walk  about,  and 
see  what  was  to  be  seen. 

It  was  a  pleasant  summer  evening,  and  they 
enjoyed  the  rambles  that  they  took  very  much 
indeed.  They  walked  through  several  of  the 
little  hamlets,  and  saw  the  women  sitting  at 
the  doors  of  their  cottages,  with  their  young 
children  in  their  arms,  while  the  older  ones 
were  running  about,  here  and  there,  at  play. 
They  went  to  some  of  the  coal  pits,  and  saw  the 
immense  iron  levers,  driven  by  steam,  that 
were  slowly  moving  to  and  fro,  hard  at  work 
pumping  up  water  from  the  bottom  of  the 
mine.  They  took  quite  a  walk,  too,  along  the 
turnpike  road,  and  saw  a  postchaise  drive 
swiftly  by,  with  a  footman  behind,  and  a  pos- 
tilion in  livery  on  one  of  the  horses. 

At  last,  when  the  hour  of  eight  began  to 
draw  nigh,  they  all  went  back  to  a  little  inn 
near  the  station,  where  the  coachman  had  said 
that  he  would  call  for  them.  When  the  coach 
came  Mr.  George  got  in,  and  the  two  boys 
mounted  on  the  top,  and  took  their  places  on 
a  high  seat  behind  that  of  the  driver.  They 
had  a  very  pleasant  ride.  The  country 
was  beautiful,  and  the  horses  trotted  so 
fast  over  the  smooth,  hard  road,  that  a  con- 
tinued succession  of  most  enchanting  pictures 
of  rural  scenery  was  presented  to  the  eyes  of 
the  boys,  as  they  rode  along.  The  distance 
was  not  far  from  ten  miles,  but  both  the  boys 
wished  that  it  had  been  twenty. 

8   Scotland 


114  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

At  length  they  came  in  sight  of  a  large  vil- 
lage bordered  by  groves  of  trees,  lying  in  the 
midst  of  a  gentle  depression  of  the  ground, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  more  they  began  to  get 
glimpses  of  the  water.  The  village  was  Kin- 
ross, and  the  water  was  Loch  Leven.  Pres- 
ently, in  going  over  a  gentle  elevation  of  land, 
a  large  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  water 
came  into  view.  Far  out  toward  the  center 
of  it  was  a  small,  low  island  covered  with 
trees.  In  the  midst  of  the  trees  the  boys  could 
see  the  top  of  the  ruin  of  a  large,  square  tower. 
They  asked  the  coachman  if  that  was  Loch 
Leven  Castle,  and  he  said  it  was. 

"Uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  leaning  over 
and  calling  out  to  his  uncle  inside,  "there's 
the  castle." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  see  it." 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Rollo  to  Waldron, 
"that  that  is  a  very  small  island  to  build  a  cas- 
tle upon." 

"Yes,"  said  the  coachman;  "but  it  was  a 
great  deal  smaller  in  the  days  when  the  castle 
was  inhabited.  It  was  only  just  large  enough 
then  for  the  castle  itself,  and  for  the  castle 
garden.  It  is  a  great  deal  larger  now.  The 
way  it  came  to  be  larger  was  this.  Some 
years  ago  the  proprietor  cut  down  the  outlet 
of  the  loch  four  feet  deeper  than  it  was  before ; 
and  that  drew  off  four  feet  of  water  from 
the  whole  loch,  and,  of  course,  all  the  places 
where  the  water  was  less  than  four  feet  deep 
were  laid  bare.  This  enlarged  the  castle 
island  a  great  deal,  for  before  the  water  was 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  115 

very  shallow  all  around  it.  When  the  land 
became  dry  they  planted  trees  there,  and  now 
the  ruins  are  in  the  midst  of  quite  a  grove." 

By  this  time  the  coach  began  to  enter  the 
village,  and  very  soon  it  stopped  at  the  door  of 
a  very  neat  and  tidy-looking  inn.  Mr.  George 
engaged  lodgings  for  the  night,  and  called  for 
supper.  The  supper  was  served  in  a  pleasant 
little  coffee  room,  which  was  fitted  up  in  a 
very  snug  and  comfortable  manner,  like  a  back 
parlor  in  a  gentleman's  house. 

After  supper  Mr.  George  proposed  to  the 
boys  that  they  should  take  a  walk  about  the 
village,  as  it  was  only  nine  o'clock,  and  it 
would  not  be  dark  for  another  hour.  So  they 
went  out  and  walked  through  the  street,  back 
and  forth.  The  houses  were  built  of  a  sort  of 
gray  stone,  and  they  stood  all  close  together 
in  rows,  one  on  each  side  of  the  street,  with 
nothing  green  around  them  or  near  them. 
The  street  thus  presented  a  very  gray,  somber, 
and  monotonous  appearance;  very  different 
from  the  animated  and  cheerful  aspect  of 
American  villages,  with  their  white  houses 
and  green  blinds,  and  pretty  yards  and  gar- 
dens, enclosed  with  ornamental  palings.  The 
boys  wished  to  go  down  to  the  shore  of  the 
loch ;  but  as  they  did  not  see  the  water  any- 
where, Mr.  George  said  he  thought  it  would 
be  too  far.     So  they  went  back  to  the  inn. 

The  next  morning,  after  breakfast,  they  set 
out  to  go  and  visit  the  castle.  A  boy  went 
with  them  from  the  inn  to  show  them  the  way. 
He  led  them  down  the  street  of  the  village, 


116  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

to  a  house  where  he  said  the  man  lived  who 
"had  the  fishing"  of  the  loch.  It  seems 
that  theloch,  including  the  right  to  fish  in  it, 
is  private  property,  and  that  the  owner  of  it 
lets  the  fishing  to  a  man  in  the  village,  and 
that  he  keeps  a  boat  to  take  visitors  out  to  see 
the  castle.  So  they  went  to  the  house  where 
this  man  lived.  They  explained  what  they 
wanted  at  the  door,  and  pretty  soon  a  boatman 
came  out,  and  went  with  them  to  the  shore  of 
the  pond.  The  way  was  through  a  wide  green 
field,  that  had  been  formed  out  of  the  bottom 
of  the  loch,  by  drawing  off  the  water.  When 
they  came  to  the  shore  they  found  a  small  pier 
there,  with  a  boat  fastened  to  it.  There  was 
a  small  boat  house  near  the  pier.  The  boat- 
man brought  some  oars  out  of  the  boat  house, 
and  put  them  in  the  boat,  and  then  they  all 
got  ia. 

The  morning  was  calm,  and  the  loch  was 
very  smooth,  and  the  boat  glided  along  very 
gently  over  the  water.  There  was  a  great 
curve  in  the  shore  near  the  pier,  so  that  for 
some  time  the  boat,  though  headed  directly  for 
the  island,  which  was  in  the  middle  of  the  loch, 
moved  parallel  to  the  shore,  and  very  near  it. 
There  was  a  smooth  and  beautiful  green  field 
all  the  way  along  the  shore,  which  sloped 
down  gently  to  the  margin  of  the  water. 
Beyond  this  field,  which  was  not  wide,  there 
was  a  road,  and  beyond  the  road  there  was  a 
wall.  Over  the  wall  were  to  be  seen  the  trees 
of  a  great  park,  and  presently  the  boat  came 
opposite  to  the  gateway,   through  which  the 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND  117 

boys  could  see,  as  they  sailed  by,  a  large  and 
handsome  stone  house,  or  castle.  The  boat- 
man said  it  was  not  inhabited,  because  the 
owner  of  it  was  not  yet  of  age. 

After  passing  the  house  they  came,  before 
long,  to  the  end  of  these  grounds,  which 
formed  a  point  projecting  into  the  lake.  There 
was  a  small  and  very  ancient-looking  burying 
ground  on  the  point.  This  burying  ground 
will  be  referred  to  hereafter ;  so  do  not  for- 
get it. 

After  passing  this  point  of  land,  the  boat,  in 
her  course  toward  the  castle,  came  out  into 
the  open  loch — the  little  island  on  which  the 
ruins  of  the  castle  stand  being  in  full  view. 

There  was,  however,  yet  a  pretty  broad 
sheet  of  open  water  to  pass  before  reaching  the 
island. 

"Now,  we  have  passed  Cape  Race,"  said 
Waldron,  "and  are  striking  out  into  the  open 
sea." 

Cape  Race  is  the  southern  cape  of  New- 
foundland, and  is  the  last  land  to  be  seen  on 
the  American  coast,  in  crossing  the  Atlantic. 
After  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  boat 
began  to  approach  the  shores  of  the  little 
island.  And  now  the  great  square  tower,  and 
the  rampart  wall  connected  with  it,  came 
plainly  in  sight.  There  were  a  few  very  large 
and  old  trees  overhanging  the  ruins,  and  all 
the  rest  of  the  island  was  covered  with  a  dense 
grove  of  young  trees.  The  boat  came  up  to 
the  land,  and  Mr.  George  and  the  boys 
stepped  out  of  it  upon  a  sort  of  jetty,  formed 


118  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

of  stones  loosely  thrown  together.  There  was 
a  path  leading  through  the  grass,  and  among 
the  trees,  toward  the  ruins  of  the  castle. 

The  castle  consisted,  when  it  was  entire,  of 
a  square  area  enclosed  in  a  high  wall,  with 
various  buildings  along  the  inner  side  of  it. 
The  principal  of  these  buildings  was  the  square 
tower.  This  was  in  one  corner  of  the  en- 
closure. At  the  opposite  corner  of  the  enclos- 
ure were  the  ruins  of  a  smaller  tower,  hexag- 
onal in  its  form.  The  square  tower  contained 
the  principal  apartments  occupied  by  the 
family  that  resided  in  the  castle.  The  hexag- 
onal one  contained  the  rooms  where  Queen 
Mary  was  imprisoned. 

Then,  besides  these  structure,  there  were 
several  other  buildings  within  the  area,  though 
they  are  now  gone  almost  entirely  to  ruin. 
There  was  a  chapel,  for  religious  services  and 
worship ;  there  were  ovens  for  baking,  and  a 
brewery  for  brewing  beer.  The  guide  showed 
Mr.  George  and  the  boys  the  places  where 
these  buildings  stood,  though  nothing  was 
left  of  them  now  but  the  rude  ranges  of  stone 
which  marked  the  foundations  of  them.  In- 
deed, throughout  the  whole  interior  of  the  area 
enclosed  by  the  castle  wall  there  was  nothing 
to  be  seen  but  stones  and  heaps  of  rubbish,  all 
overgrown  with  rank  grass,  and  tall  wild 
flowers,  and  overshadowed  by  the  wide-spread- 
ing limbs  and  dense  foliage  of  several  enormous 
trees,  that  had  by  chance  sprung  up  since  the 
castle  went  to  ruin.  It  was  a  very  mournful 
spectacle. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  119 

The  boys  walked  directly  across  the  area, 
toward  the  hexagonal  tower,  in  order  to  see 
the  place  where  Queen  Mary  escaped  by  climb- 
ing out  of  the  window. 

Mr.  George  had  thought  that  Waldron  would 
not  succeed  in  obtaining  any  satisfactory 
information  from  the  guide  in  respect  to  the 
circumstances  of  Queen  Mary's  escape;  for 
generally  the  guides  who  show  these  old 
places  in  England  and  Scotland  know  little 
more  than  a  certain  lesson,  which  they  have 
learned  by  rote.  But  the  guides  who  show  the 
Castle  of  Loch  Leven  seem  to  me  exceptions 
to  this  rule.  I  have  visited  the  place  two  or 
three  times,  at  intervals  of  many  years,  and 
the  guides  who  have  conducted  me  to  the  spot 
have  always  been  very  intelligent  and  well- 
informed  young  men,  and  have  seemed  to  pos- 
sess a  very  clear  and  comprehensive  under- 
standing of  the  events  of  Queen  Mary's  life. 
At  any  rate,  the  guide  in  this  instance  gave 
Waldron  and  Rollo  a  very  good  account  of  the 
escape ;  separating  in  his  narrative,  in  a  very 
discriminating  manner,  those  things  which  are 
known,  on  good  historical  evidence,  to  be  true, 
from  those  which  rest  only  on  the  authority  of 
traditionary  legends.  He  gave  his  account,  too, 
in  a  very  gentle  tone  of  voice,  and  with  a 
Scotch  accent,  which  seemed  so  appropriate  to 
the  place  and  to  the  occasion  that  it  imparted 
to  his  conversation  a  peculiar  charm. 

"The  country  was  divided  in  those  days," 
said  he,  "and  some  of  the  nobles  were  for  the 
poor  queen,  and  some  were  against  her.     The 


120  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

owner  of  this  castle  was  Lady  Douglass,  and 
she  was  against  her;  and  so  they  sent  Mary 
here,  for  Lady  Douglass  to  keep  her  safely, 
while  they  arranged  a  new  government. 

"But  she  made  her  escape  by  this  window, 
which  I  will  show  ye. ' ' 

So  saying,  the  guide  led  the  way  up  two  or 
three  old,  time-worn,  and  dilapidated  steps, 
into  the  hexagonal  tower.  The  tower  was 
small — being,  apparently,  not  more  than 
twelve  feet  diameter  within.  The  floors, 
except  the  lower  one,  and  also  the  roof,  were 
entirely  gone,  so  that  as  soon  as  you  entered 
you  could  look  up  to  the  sky. 

The  walls  were  very  thick,  so  that  there  was 
room  not  only  for  deep  fireplaces,  but  also  for 
closets  and  for  a  staircase,  in  them.  You 
could  see  the  openings  for  these  closets,  and 
also  various  loopholes  and  windows,  at  differ- 
ent  heights.  The  top  of  the  wall  was  all 
broken  away,  and  so  were  the  sills  of  the  win- 
dows; and  little  tufts  of  grass  and  of  wall 
flowers  were  to  be  seen,  here  and  there,  grow- 
ing out  of  clefts  and  crevices.  There  were  also 
rows  of  small  square  holes  to  be  seen,  at  differ- 
ent heights,  where  the  ends  of  the  timbers  had 
been  inserted,  to  form  the  floors  of  the  several 
stories. 

"This  was  the  window  where  she  is  sup- 
posed to  have  got  out, ' '  said  the  guide. 

So  saying,  he  pointed  to  a  large  opening  in 
the  wall,  on  the  outer  side,  where  there  had 
once,  evidently,  been  a  window. 

The  boys  went  to  the  place,  and  looked  out. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  121 

They  saw  beneath  the  window  a  smooth, 
green  lawn,  with  the  young  trees  which  had 
been  planted  growing  luxuriantly  upon  it. 

"I  suppose,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  before 
the  lake  was  lowered  the  water  came  up  close 
under  the  window." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  guide;  "and  if  you  stand 
upon  the  sill,  and  look  down,  you  will  see  a 
course  of  projecting  stone  at  the  foot  of  the 
wall,  which  was  laid  to  meet  the  wash  of  the 
water." 

"Let  me  see,"  said  Waldron,  eagerly. 

So  saying,  Waldron  advanced  by  the  side  of 
Mr.  George,  and  looked  down.  By  leaning 
over  pretty  far  he  could  see  the  course  of  stone 
very  distinctly  that  the  guide  had  referred  to. 

"Who  brought  the  boat  here  for  Mary  to  go 
away  in?"  asked  Waldron. 

"Young  Douglass,"  said  the  guide,  "Lady 
Douglass's  son.  He  was  a  young  lad,  only 
eighteen  years  old.  His  mother  was  Queen 
Mary's  enemy;  but  he  pitied  her,  and  became 
her  friend,  and  he  devised  this  way  to  assist 
her  to  escape.  There  was  a  plan  devised 
before  this,  by  his  brother.  His  name  was 
George  Douglass.  The  one  who  came  in  the 
boat  was  William.  George's  plan  was  for 
Mary  to  go  on  shore  in  the  disguise  of  a  laun- 
dress. The  laundress  came  over  to  the  island 
from  the  shore  in  a  boat,  to  bring  the  linen ; 
and  while  she  was  in  Mary's  room  Mary 
exchanged  clothes  with  her,  and  attempted  to 
go  on  shore  in  the  boat  with  the  empty  basket. 
But  the  boatmen  happened  to  notice  her  hand, 


122  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

which  was  very  delicate  and  white,  and  they 
knew  that  such  a  hand  as  that  could  never 
belong  to  a  real  laundress.  So  they  made  her 
lift  up  her  veil,  and  thus  she  was  discovered. ' ' 

"That  was  very  curious,"  said  Waldron. 

•'It  is  supposed,"  said  the  guide,  "that  this 
floor,  where  we  stand,  was  Mary's  drawing- 
room,  and  the  floor  above  was  her  bed  cham- 
ber. The  staircase  where  she  went  up  is  there, 
in  the  wall." 

"Let's  go  up,"  said  Rollo. 

So  Rollo  and  Waldron  went  up  the  stairway. 
It  was  very  narrow,  and  rather  steep,  and  the 
steps  were  much  worn  away.  When  the  boys 
reached  the  top  they  came  to  an  opening, 
through  which  they  could  look  down  to  where 
Mr.  George  and  the  guide  were  standing  below ; 
though,  of  course,  they  could  not  go  out ;  for 
the  floor  in  the  second  story  was  entirely  gone. 

"There  was  a  room  above  the  bed  chamber," 
said  the  guide,  "as  we  see  by  the  windows  and 
the  fireplace,  but  there  was  no  stairway  to  it 
from  Queen  Mary's  apartments.  The  only 
access  to  it  was  through  that  door,  which  leads 
in  from  the  top  of  the  rampart  wall.  And 
there  is  another  room  below,  and  partly  under 
ground.  That  is  the  room  where  Walter  Scott 
represents  the  false  keys  to  have  been  forged. ' ' 

"What  false  keys?"  asked  Waldron. 

"Why,  the  story  is,"  said  the  guide,  "that 
young  Douglass  had  false  keys  made,  to 
resemble  the  true  ones  as  nearly  as  possible, 
so  as  to  deceive  his  mother.  He  then  contrived 
to  get  the  true  ones  away  from  his  mother, 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  123 

and  put  the  false  ones  in  their  place.  I  will 
show  you  where  he  did  this,  and  explain  how 
he  did  it,  when  we  go  into  the  square  tower.  * ' 

' '  Let  us  go  now, ' '  said  Waldron. 

So  they  all  went  across  the  court  yard,  and 
approached  the  square  tower.  The  guide 
explained  to  the  boys  that  formerly  the  entrance 
was  in  the  second  story,  through  an  opening 
in  the  wall,  which  he  showed  them.  The  way 
to  get  up  to  this  opening  was  by  a  step  ladder, 
which  could  be  let  down  or  drawn  up  by  the 
people  within,  by  means  of  chains  coming 
down  from  a  window  above.  The  step  ladder 
was,  of  course,  entirely  gone ;  but  deep  grooves 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  sill  of  the  upper  win- 
dow, which  had  been  worn  by  the  chains  in 
letting  down  and  drawing  up  the  ladder. 

To  accommodate  modern  visitors  a  flight  of 
loose  stonesteps  had  been  laid  outside  the  square 
tower,  leading  to  a  window  in  the  lower  story 
of  it.  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  ascended 
these  steps  and  went  in.  The  lower  room  was 
the  kitchen,  and  they  were  all  much  interested 
and  amused  in  looking  at  the  very  strange  and 
curious  fixtures  and  contrivances  which 
remained  there — the  memorials  of  the  domestic 
usages  of  those  ancient  times. 

In  a  corner  of  the  room  was  a  flight  of  steps, 
built  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  leading  to 
the  story  above.  This  was  the  dining  room 
and  parlor  of  the  castle. 

"It  was  here,"  said  the  guide,  "according  to 
the  story  of  Walter  Scott,  that  Douglass  con- 
trived to  get  possession  of  the  castle  keys. 


124  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

There  was  a  window  on  one  side  of  the  room, 
from  which  there  was  a  view,  across  the  water 
of  the  lake,  of  the  burying  ground  already 
mentioned.  Lady  Douglass,  like  almost  every- 
body else  in  those  times,  was  somewhat  super- 
stitious, and  William  arranged  it  with  a  page 
that  he  was  to  pretend  to  see  what  was  called 
a  corpse  light,  moving  about  in  the  burying 
ground ;  and  while  his  mother  went  to  see,  he 
shifted  the  keys  which  she  had  left  upon  the 
table,  taking  the  true  ones  himself,  and  leav- 
ing the  false  ones  in  their  place. 

"That  is  the  story  which  Sir  Walter  Scott 
relates,"  said  the  guide;  "  but  I  am  not  sure 
that  there  is  any  historical  authority  for  it. " 

"And  what  became  of  Queen  Mary,  after  she 
escaped  in  the  boat?"  asked  Waldron. 

"O,  there  were  several  of  her  friends,"  said 
the  guide,  "waiting  for  her  on  the  shore  of 
the  loch  where  she  was  to  land,  and  they  hur- 
ried her  away  on  horseback  to  a  castle  in  the 
south  of  Scotland,  and  there  they  gathered  an 
army  for  her,  to  defend  her  rights." 

After  this  the  boys  looked  down  through  a 
trap  door,  which  led  to  a  dark  dungeon,  where 
it  is  supposed  that  prisoners  were  sometimes 
confined.  They  rambled  about  the  ruins  for 
some  time  longer,  and  then  they  returned  to 
the  boat,  and  came  back  to  the  shore.  When 
they  arrived  at  the  pier  they  paid  the  boatman 
his  customary  fee,  which  was  about  a  dollar 
and  a  quarter,  and  then  began  to  walk  up 
toward  the  inn. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  125 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Mr.  George,  "how  did 
you  like  it?" 

"Very  much,  indeed,"  said  Waldron.  "It  is 
the  best  old  castle  I  ever  saw. ' ' 

"You  will  like  the  Palace  of  Holyrood  better, 
I  think,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"Where  is  that?"  asked  Rollo. 

"At  Edinburgh,"  said  Mr.  George.  "It  is 
the  place  where  Mary  lived.  We  shall  see  the 
little  room  there  where  they  murdered  her  poor 
secretary,  David  Rizzio. ' ' 

"What  did  they  murder  him  for?"  asked 
Waldron. 

"O,  you  will  see  when  you  come  to  read  the 
history,"  said  Mr.  George.  "It  is  a  very  curi- 
ous story." 


126  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

EDINBURGH. 

From  Loch  Leven  Castle  our  party  returned 
in  the  coach  to  the  railway  station,  and  thence 
proceeded  to  Edinburgh.  They  crossed  the 
Frith  or  Forth  by  a  ferry,  at  a  place  where  it 
was  about  five  miles  wide. 

Edinburgh  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  cities  in  the  world,  in  respect  to 
the  picturesqueness  of  its  situation.  It  stands 
upon  and  among  a  very  extraordinary  group 
of  steep  hills  and  deep  valleys.  A  part  of  it  is 
very  ancient,  and  another  part  is  quite  modern, 
so  that  in  describing  it,  it  is  often  said  that  it 
consists  of  the  old  town  and  the  new  town. 
But  it  seems  to  me  that  a  more  obvious  dis- 
tinction would  be,  to  divide  it  into  the  upper 
town  and  the  lower  town ;  for  there  are  almost 
literally  two  towns,  one  upon  the  top  of  the 
other.  The  upper  town  is  built  on  the  hills. 
The  lower  one  lies  in  the  valleys.  The  streets 
of  the  upper  town  are  connected  by  bridges ; 
and  when  you  stand  upon  one  of  these  bridges, 
and  look  down,  you  see  a  street  instead  of  a 
river  below,  with  ranges  of  strange  and 
antique-looking  buildings  on  each  side,  for 
banks,  and  a  current  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren flowing  along,  instead  of  water. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  127 

The  different  portions  of  the  lower  town,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  connected  by  tunnels  and 
arched  passage  ways  under  the  bridges  above 
described ;  and  then  there  are  flights  of  steps, 
and  steep  winding  or  zig-zag  paths,  leading  up 
and  down  between  the  lower  streets  and  the 
upper,  in  the  most  surprising  manner. 

There  are  twenty  places,  more  or  less,  in  the 
town,  where  you  have  two  streets  crossing  each 
other  at  right  angles,  one  fifty  feet  below  the 
other,  with  an  immense  traffic  of  horses,  car- 
riages, carts,  and  foot  passengers,  going  to  and 
fro  in  both  of  them.  You  come  upon  these 
places  sometimes  very  unexpectedly.  You 
are  walking  along  on  the  pavement  of  a 
crowded  street,  when  you  come  suddenly  upon 
the  break,  or  interruption  in  the  line  of  build- 
ing on  each  side.  The  space  is  occupied  by  a 
parapet,  or  by  a  high  iron  balustrade.  You 
stop  to  look  over,  expecting  to  see  a  river  or 
a  canal ;  instead  of  which,  you  find  yourself 
looking  down  into  the  chimneys  of  four-story 
houses  bordering  another  street  below  you, 
which  is  so  far  down  that  the  people  walking 
in  it,  and  the  children  playing  on  the  sidewalk, 
look  like  pygmies. 

At  one  place,  in  looking  over  the  parapet  of 
such  a  bridge,  you  see  a  vast  market,  with 
carts  filled  with  vegetables  standing  all  around 
it.  At  another,  you  behold  a  great  railway 
station,  with  crowds  of  passengers  on  the  plat- 
forms, and  trains  of  cars  coming  and  going ;  at 
another,  a  range  of  beautiful  gardens  and 
pleasure  grounds,  with  ladies  and  gentlemen 


128  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

walking  in  them,  or  sitting  on  seats  under  the 
trees,  and  children  trundling  their  hoops,  or 
rolling  their  balls,  over  the  smooth  gravel 
walks. 

Sometimes  a  street  of  the  up,per  town,  run- 
ning along  on  the  crest  or  side  of  a  hill,  lies 
parallel  with  one  in  the  lower  town,  that 
extends  below  it  in  the  valley.  In  this  case 
the  block  of  houses  that  comes  between  will  be 
very  high  indeed  on  the  side  toward  the  lower 
street;  so  that  you  see  buildings  sometimes 
eight  or  ten  stories  high  at  one  front,  and  only 
four  or  five  on  the  other.  These  structures 
consist,  in  fact,  of  two  houses,  one  on  top  of 
the  other;  the  entrances  to  the  lower  house 
being  from  one  of  the  streets  of  the  lower 
town,  and  those  leading  to  the  one  on  the  top 
being  from  a  street  in  the  upper  town. 

The  reason  why  Edinburgh  was  built  in  this 
extraordinary  position  was,  because  it  had  its 
origin  in  a  castle  on  a  rock.  This  rock,  with 
the  castle  that  crowns  the  summit  of  it,  rears 
its  lofty  head  now  in  the  very  center  of  the 
town,  with  deep  valleys  all  around  it.  This 
rock,  or  rather  rocky  hill, — for  it  is  nearly  a 
mile  in  circumference, — is  very  steep  on  all 
sides  but  one.  On  that  side  there  is  a  gradual 
slope,  a  mile  or  more  in  length,  leading  down 
to  the  level  country.  A  great  many  centuries 
ago  the  military  chieftains  of  those  days  built 
the  castle  on  the  hill.  About  the  same  time 
the  monks  built  a  monastery  on  the  level 
ground  at  the  foot  of  the  long  slope  leading 
down  from  the  castle.      The  rocky  hill  was  an 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  129 

excellent  place  for  the  castle,  for  there  was  a 
hundred  feet  of  almost  perpendicular  precipice 
on  all  sides  but  one,  and  on  that  side  there  was 
a  convenient  slope  for  the  people  who  lived  in 
the  castle  to  go  up  and  down;  and  thus,  by 
fortifying  this  side,  and  making  slight  walls  on 
all  the  other  sides,  the  whole  place  would  be 
very  secure.  The  level  ground  below,  too,  was 
a  very  good  place  for  the  monastery  or  abbey ; 
for  it  was  easily  accessible  from  all  the  coun- 
try around,  and  was,  moreover,  in  the  midst  of 
a  region  of  fertile  land,  easy  for  the  lay 
brethren  to  till.  There  was  no  necessity  that 
the  abbey  should  be  in  a  fortified  place,  for 
such  establishments  were  considered  sacred  in 
those  days,  and  even  in  the  most  furious  wars 
they  were  seldom  molested. 

In  process  of  time  a  palace  was  built  by  the 
side  of  the  abbey.  This  palace  and  a  part  of 
the  ruins  of  the  abbey  still  remain.  Of  course, 
when  the  palace  was  built,  a  town  would  grad- 
ually grow  up  near  it.  Many  noblemen  of  the 
realm  came  and  built  houses  along  the  street 
which  led  from  the  palace  up  to  the  castle — 
now  called  High  Street.  The  fronts  of  these 
houses  were  on  the  street,  and  the  gardens 
behind  them  extended  down  the  slopes  of  the 
ridge  on  both  sides,  into  the  deep  valleys  that 
bordered  them.  Little  lanes  were  left  between 
these  houses,  leading  down  the  slopes:  but 
they  were  closed  at  the  bottom  by  a  wall,  which 
was  built  along  at  the  foot  of  the  descent  on 
each  side,  and  formed  the  enclosure  of  the 
town. 

0   Scotland 


130  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

In  process  of  time  the  town  extended  down 
into  these  valleys,  and  then  to  the  other  hills 
beyond  them.  Then  bridges  were  built  here 
and  there  across  the  valleys,  to  lead  from  one 
hill  to  another,  and  tunnels  and  other  subter- 
ranean passages  were  made,  to  connect  one 
valley  with  another,  until,  finally,  the  town 
assumed  the  very  extraordinary  appearance 
which  it  now  presents  to  view.  "Besides  the 
hills  within  the  town,  there  are  some  very 
large  and  high  ones  just  beyond  the  limits  of 
it.  One  of  these  is  called  Arthur's  Seat,  and 
is  quite  a  little  mountain.  The  path  leading 
to  the  top  of  it  runs  along  upon  the  crest  of  a 
remarkable  range  of  precipices,  called  Salis- 
bury Crags.  These  precipices  face  toward 
the  town,  and  together  with  the  lofty  summit 
of  Arthur's  Seat,  which  rises  immediately 
behind  them,  form  a  very  conspicuous  object 
from  a  great  many  points  of  view  in  and 
around  the  town. 

Unfortunately,  however,  none  of  this  exceed- 
ingly picturesque  scenery  could  be  seen  to 
advantage  by  our  party,  on  the  day  that  they 
arrived  in  Edinburgh,  on  account  of  the  rain. 
All  that  they  knew  was,  that  they  came  into 
the  town  by  a  tunnel,  and  when  they  left  the 
train  at  the  station  they  were  at  the  bottom  of 
so  deep  a  valley  that  they  had  to  ascend  to  the 
third  story  before  they  could  get  out,  and  then 
they  had  to  go  up  a  hill  to  get  to  the  street  in 
which  the  hotel  was  situated. 

The  name  of  this  street  was  Prince's  Street. 
It  lay  along  the  margin  of  one  of  the  Edin- 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  131 

burgh  hills,  overlooking  a  long  valley,  which 
extended  between  it  and  Castle  Hill,  on  which 
the  town  was  first  built.  There  were  no 
houses  in  this  street  on  the  side  toward  the 
valley,  but  there  were  several  bridges  leading 
across  the  valley,  as  if  it  had  been  a  river 
Beyond  the  valley  were  to  be  seen  the  backs 
of  the  houses  in  High  Street,  which  looked 
like  a  range  of  cliffs,  divided  by  vertical 
chasms  and  seams,  and  blackened  by  time. 
At  one  end  of  the  hill  was  the  castle  rock, 
crowned  with  the  towers,  and  bastions,  and 
battlemented  walls  of  the  ancient  fortress. 

The  boys  went  directly  to  their  rooms  when 
they  arrived  at  the  hotel,  and  while  Mr.  George 
was  unstrapping  and  opening  his  valise,  Wal- 
dron  and  Rollo  went  to  look  out  at  the  win- 
dow, to  see  what  they  could  see. 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Mr.  George,  "how  does 
it  look?" 

"It  looks  rainy,"  said  Rollo.  "But  we  can 
see  something." 

"What  can  you  see?"  asked  Mr.  George. 

"We  can  see  the  castle  on  the  hill,"  said 
Rollo.  "At  least,  I  suppose  it  is  the  castle. 
It  is  right  before  us,  across  the  valley,  with  a 
precipice  of  rocks  all  around  it,  on  every  side 
but  one.  There  is  a  zig-zag  wall  running 
round  on  the  top  of  the  precipices,  close  to  the 
brink  of  them.  If  a  man  could  climb  up  the 
rocks  he  could  not  get  in,  after  all." 

"And  what  is  there  inside  the  wall?"  asked 
Mr.  George. 

"O,  there  are  ever  so  many  buildings,"  said 


132  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

Rollo — "great  stone  forts,  and  barracks,  and 
bastions,  rising  up  one  above  another,  and 
watch  towers  on  the  angles  of  the  walls.  I  can 
see  one,  two,  three  watch  towers.  I  should 
like  to  be  in  one  of  them.  I  could  look  over 
the  whole  city,  and  all  the  country  around. 

'I  can  see  some  portholes,  with  guns  point- 
ing out, — and — O,  and  now  I  see  a  monstrous 
great  gun,  looking  over  this  way,  from  one  of 
the  highest  platforms.     I  believe  it  is  a  gun." 

"I  suppose  it  must  be  Mons  Meg,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

'Mons  Meg?"  repeated  Rollo.  "I'll  get  a 
glass  and  see." 

"Yes,  said  Mr.  George.  "There  is  a  very 
famous  old  gun  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  named 
Mons  Meg.     I  think  it  may  be  that." 

"I  can't  see  very  plain, "said  Rollo,  "the 
air  is  so  thick  with  the  rain ;  but  it  is  a  mon- 
strous gun." 

Just  at  this  time  the  waiter  came  into  the 
room  to  ask  the  party  if  they  would  have  any- 
thing to  eat 

"Yes,'  said  Mr.  George,  "we  will.  Go 
down  with  the  waiter,  boys,  and  see  what 
there  is,  and  order  a  good  supper.  I  will 
come  down  in  fifteen  minutes. " 

So  the  boys  went  down,  and  in  fifteen 
minutes  Mr.  George  followed.  He  found  the 
supper  table  ready  in  a  corner  of  the  coffee 
room,  and  Rollo  sitting  by  it  alone. 

"Where  is  Waldron?"  asked  Mr.  George. 

"He's  gone  to  the  circulating  library,"  said 
Rollo. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  133 

•'The  circulating  library?"  repeated  Mr. 
George. 

"He  has  gone  to  get  a  book  about  the 
history  of  Scotland,"  said  Rollo.  "We  have 
been  reading  in  the  guide  book  about  the 
castle,  and  Waldron  says  he  wants  to  know 
something  more  about  the  kings,  and  the  bat- 
tles they  fought." 

"How  does  he  know  there  is  any  circulating 
library?"  asked  Mr.  George. 

"He  asked  the  waiter,"  said  Rollo,  "and  the 
waiter  told  him  where  there  was  one.  He 
said  he  would  try  to  be  back  before  the  supper 
was  ready,  and  that  we  must  not  wait  for  him 
if  he  did  not  come." 

"He  ought  to  have  asked  me  if  I  was  willing 
that  he  should  go, ' '  said  Mr.  George. 

In  a  few  minutes  Waldron  came  in  with  two 
pretty  big  books  under  his  arm.  They  were 
covered  with  paper,  in  the  manner  usual  with 
the  books  of  circulating  libraries.  Waldron 
advanced  to  the  supper  taWe,  and  laid  the 
books  down  upon  it  with  an  ai\*  of  great  satis- 
faction. 

"Then  you  have  found  the  circulating 
library,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Waldron, /'and  I  have  got 
two  volumes  of  the  history  of  the  great  men  of 
Scotland." 

"What  did  you  get  two  volumes  for?"  asked 
Mr.  George. 

"One  for  Rollo  and  one  for  me,"  said  Wal- 
dron. "They  are  for  us  to  read  this  evening, 
because  it  rains  " 


134  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  after  a  moment's 
pause.  "I  am  very  glad  to  find  that  you  take 
an  interest  in  reading  about  Scotland ;  but  you 
ought  to  have  asked  me,  before  you  went 
away  to  get  books  from  a  circulating  library." 

Waldron  paused  a  moment  on  hearing  this 
remark,  and  his  countenance  assumed  a  very 
serious  expression. 

"So  I  ought,"  said  he.  "I  did  not  think  of 
that.  And  now,  if  you  think  I  had  better,  I 
will  go  and  carry  them  right  back. ' ' 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  don't  wish  you 
to  carry  them  back.  But  I  should  not  have 
thought  they  would  have  intrusted  such  books 
to  you — a  perfect  stranger — and  a  boy  be- 
sides." 

"I  made  a  deposit,"  said  Waldron. 

Just  at  this  time  the  waiter  brought  the  sup- 
per to  the  table,  and  the  party,  being  all 
hungry,  set  themselves  to  the  work  of  eating  it. 

"You  see,"  said  Waldron,  when  they  had 
nearly  finished  their  supper,  "I  thought  we 
should  want  something  to  do  this  evening;  it 
rains,  and  we  can't  go  out." 

"What  time  in  the  evening  do  you  suppose 
it  is?"  asked  Mr.  George. 

"Why,  it  is  not  near  dark  yet,"  said  Wal- 
dron. 

"True,"  said  Mr.  George;  "but  it  is  almost 
ten  o'clock." 

"O  Mr.  George!"  exclaimed  Waldron. 

"It  is  half  past  nine,  at  any  rate,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

The  boys  were  greatly  surprised  at  hearing 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND."  135 

this.  They  were  very  slow  in  learning  to 
keep  in  mind  how  late  the  sun  goes  down  in 
the  middle  of  June  in  these  extreme  northern 
latitudes. 

However,  on  this  occasion  it  was  dark 
earlier  than  usual,  on  account  of  the  clouds 
and  the  rain ;  and  the  waiter  came  to  light  the 
gas  over  the  table  where  our  party  were  at 
supper,  before  they  finished  their  meal,  al- 
though it  was  only  a  little  more  than  half  past 
nine.  This  made  it  very  bright  and  cheerful 
in  the  corner,  and  Mr.  George  proposed  that 
they  should  all*stay  there  one  hour.  "I  will 
write,"  said  he,  "and  you  may  read  in  your 
books.  We  will  stay  here  till  half  past  ten, 
and  then,  after  you  have  gone  to  bed,  you  can 
talk  yourselves  to  sleep  by  telling  each  other 
what  you  have  read  about  in  your  books. " 

This  plan  was  carried  into  effect.  Mr. 
George  wrote,  and  the  boys  read  by  the  light  of 
the  gas  for  an  hour.  Then  Mr.  George  put 
away  his  papers,  and  said  it  was  time  to  go  to 
bed.  When  the  boys  went  to  their  bed  room 
they  found  two  narrow  beds  in  it,  one  in  each 
corner  of  the  room.  Waldron  took  one  of 
them  and  Rollo  the  other.  When  both  the 
boys  were  in  bed  they  commenced  conversation 
in  respect  to  what  they  had  been  reading. 

"Come,  Waldron,"  said  Rollo,  "tell  me  what 
you  have  been  reading  about." 

"No,"  said  Waldron,  "you  must  begin." 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  "I  read  about  King 
James  the  First.  There  have  been  a  good 
many  King  Jameses  in  Scotland." 


136  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "six." 

"This  was  King  James  the  First  He  was  a 
bad  king.  He  oppressed  his  people,  and  they 
determined  to  kill  him.  So  they  banded 
together  and  made  a  plot.  They  were  going 
to  kill  him  in  a  monastery  where  he  stopped 
on  a  journey, 

"He  was  going  over  a  river  just  before  he 
came  to  the  monastery,  and  a  woman,  who 
pretended  to  be  a  prophetess,  called  out  to 
him  as  he  went  by  toward  the  bank  of  the 
river,  and  told  him  to  beware,  for  if  he  crossed 
that  river  he  would  certainly  be  killed.  The 
king  was  very  superstitious;  so  he  sent  one  of 
his  men  back  to  ask  the  woman  what  she 
meant.  The  man  came  to  him  again  very 
soon,  and  said  that  it  was  nothing  but  an  old 
drunken  woman  raving,  and  that  he  must  not 
mind  her.     So  the  king  went  on. 

"He  crossed  the  water,  and  went  to  the 
monastery.  The  conspirators  were  there 
before  him.  The  leader  of  them  was  a  man 
named  Graham.  He  had  three  hundred  High- 
landers with  him.  They  were  all  concealed  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  monastery.  They 
were  going  to  break  into  the  king's  room  in  the 
monastery,  at  night,  and  kill  him.  They 
found  out  the  room  where  he  was  gcfing  to 
sleep,  and  they  took  off  the  bolts  from  the 
doors,  so  as  to  keep  them  from  fastening  them. 

"The  woman  that  had  met  the  king  on  the 
way  followed  him  to  the  monastery,  and  wanted 
to  see  the  king.  They  told  her  she  could  not 
see  him.     She  said  she  must  see  him.     They 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  137 

told  her  that  at  any  rate  she  could  not  see 
him  then — he  was  tired  with  his  journey.  She 
must  go  away,  they  said,  and  come  the  next 
day.  So  she  went  away;  but  she  told  them 
they  would  all  be  sorry  for  not  letting  her  in." 

"Do  you  suppose  she  really  knew,"  asked 
Waldron,  "that  they  were  going  to  kill  the 
king?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo.  "At  any  rate, 
she  seemed  very  much  in  earnest  about  warn- 
ing him." 

"Well;  go  on  with  the  story,"  said  Waldron. 

"Why,  the  conspirators  broke  into  the  room 
that  night  just  as  the  king  was  going  to  bed. 
He  was  sitting  near  the  fire,  in  his  gown  and 
slippers,  talking  with  the  queen  and  the  other 
ladies  that  were  there,  when,  all  at  once,  he 
heard  a  terrible  noise  at  the  doors  of  the 
monastery.  It  was  the  conspirators  trying  to 
get  in." 

"Why  did  not  they  come  right  in,"  asked 
Waldron,  "if  the  doors  were  not  fastened?" 

"Why,  I  suppose  there  were  guards,  or 
something  outside,  that  tried  to  prevent  them. 
At  any  rate,  the  king  heard  a  frightful  noise, 
like  the  clattering  and  jingling  of  armor,  and 
of  men  trying  to  get  in.  He  and  the  women 
who  were  there  ran  to  the  door  and  tried  to 
fasten  it ;  but  the  bolts  and  bars  were  gone. 
So  the  king  told  them  to  hold  the  door  with  all 
their  strength,  till  he  could  find  something  to 
fasten  it  with.  The  king  went  to  the  window, 
and  tried  to  tear  off  an  iron  stanchion  there 
was  there,  but  he  could  not.      Then  he  saw  a 


138  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

trap  door  in  the  floor,  which  led  down  to  a  kind 
of  dark  dungeon.  So  he  took  the  tongs  and 
pried  up  the  door,  and  jumped  down. 

"By  the  time  that  he  got  down,  and  the  door 
was  shut  over  him,  the  conspirators  came  in, 
and  began  to  look  about  for  him;  but  they 
could  not  find  him.  I  suppose  they  did  not  see 
the  trap  door.  Or,  perhaps,  the  women  had 
covered  it  over  with  something. " 

"Well,  and  what  did  they  do?"  asked  Wal- 
dron. 

"Why,  they  were  dreadfully  angry  because 
they  could  not  find  the  king,  and  some  of 
them  were  going  to  kill  the  queen;  but  the 
rest  would  not  let  them.  But  there  was  one  of 
the  women  that  got  her  arm  broken." 

"How?"  asked  Waldron. 

"She  did  it  somehow  or  other  holding  the 
door.  I  suppose  she  got  it  wedged  in  some 
way.     She  was  a  countess. 

"After  a  while, "  continued  Rollo,  "the  men 
went  away  to  look  in  some  of  the  other  rooms 
of  the  monastery,  and  see  if  they  could  not 
find  the  king  there.  As  soon  as  they  were 
gone  the  king  wanted  to  get  out  of  the 
dungeon.  The  women  opened  the  trap  door, 
but  he  could  not  reach  up  high  enough  to  get 
out.  So  he  told  them  to  go  and  get  some 
sheets  and  let  them  down,  for  ropes  to  pull 
him  up  by. 

"They  brought  the  sheets,  and  while  they 
were  letting  them  down,  and  trying  to  get  the 
king  out,  one  of  the  ladies  fell  down  herself 
into  the  hole.      So  there  were  two  to  get  up ; 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  139 

and  while  the  others  were  trying  to  get  them 
up,  the  conspirators  came  in  again. ' ' 

"Hoh!"  said  Waldron. 

"One of  them  had  a  torch,"  said  Rollo,  con- 
tinuing his  narrative.  "He  brought  the  torch 
and  held  it  down  the  trap  door,  and  presently 
he  caught  sight  of  the  king.  So  he  called  out 
to  the  other  conspirators  that  he  had  found 
him,  and  they  all  came  round  the  place,  with 
their  swords,  and  daggers,  and  knives  in  their 
hands. 

"One  of  them  let  himself  down  into  the 
dungeon.  He  had  a  great  knife  in  his  hand 
for  a  dagger.  But  the  king  seized  him  the 
instant  he  came  down,  got  his  knife  away  from 
him,  and  pinned  him  to  the  ground.  The 
king  was  a  very  strong  man.  Immediately 
another  man  came  down,  and  the  king  seized 
him,  and  held  him  down  in  the  same  way. 
Next  Graham  himself  came  with  a  sword.  He 
stabbed  the  king  with  his  sword,  and  so  dis- 
abled him.  The  king  then  began  to  beg  for 
his  life,  and  Graham  did  not  seem  to  like  to 
strike  him  again.  But  the  other  conspirators, 
who  were  looking  down  through  the  trap  door, 
said  if  he  did  not  do  it  they  would  kill  him.  So 
at  last  he  stabbed  the  king  again,  and  killed 
him." 

When  Rollo  had  finished  the  story  he  paused, 
expecting  that  Waldron  would  say  something 
in  relation  to  it. 

"Is  that  all?"  said  Waldron,  after  waiting  a 
moment.  He  spoke,  however,  in  a  very  sleepy 
tone  of  voice. 


140  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "that  is  all.  Now  tell 
me  your  story. ' ' 

Waldron  began ;  but  he  seemed  very  sleepy, 
and  he  had  advanced  only  a  very  little  way 
before  his  words  began  to  grow  incoherent 
and  faltering,  and  very  soon  Rollo  perceived 
that  he  was  going  to  sleep.  Indeed,  Rollo 
himself  was  beginning  to  feel  sleepy,  too;  so 
he  said, — 

"No  matter,  Waldron.  You  can  tell  me 
your  story  to-morrow." 

In  five  minutes  from  that  time  both  the  boys 
werefast  asleep.  - 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  141 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   PALACE    OF    HOLYROOD. 

While  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  were  in 
Edinburgh,  they  went  one  day  to  visit  the 
Palace  of  Holyrood,  and  they  were  extremely 
interested  in  what  they  saw  there.  This 
palace  stands,  as  has  already  been  stated,  on  a 
plain,  not  far  from  the  foot  of  a  long  slope 
which  leads  up  to  the  castle. 

As  long  as  Scotland  remained  an  independ- 
ent kingdom,  the  Palace  of  Holyrood  was  the 
principal  residence  of  the  royal  family.  Queen 
Mary  was  the  last  of  the  Scottish  sovereigns — 
that  is,  she  was  the  last  that  reigned  over  Scot- 
land alone — for  her  son,  James  VI.,  succeeded 
to  the  throne  of  England,  as  well  as  to  that  of 
Scotland.  The  reason  of  this  was,  that  the 
English  branch  of  the  royal  line  failed,  and  he 
was  the  next  heir.  So  he  became  James  the 
First  of  England,  while  he  still  remained 
James  the  Sixth  of  Scotland.  And  from  this 
time  forward  the  kings  of  England  and  Scot- 
land were  one. 

Mary,  therefore,  was  the  last  of  the  exclus- 
ively Scottish  line.  She  lived  at  Holyrood  as 
long  as  she  was  allowed  to  live  anywhere  in 
peace ;  and  on  account  of  certain  very  peculiar 
circumstances  which  occurred  just  before  the 


142  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

time  that  she  left  the  palace,  her  rooms  were 
never  occupied  after  she  left  them,  but  have 
remained  to  this  day  in  the  same  state,  and 
with  almost  the  same  furniture  in  them  as  at 
the  hour  when  she  went  away.  These  rooms 
are  called  Queen  Mary's  rooms,  and  almost 
everybody  who  visits  Scotland  goes  to  see 
them. 

The  reason  why  the  rooms  which  Mary 
occupied  in  the  Palace  of  Holyrood  were  left 
as  they  were,  and  never  occupied  by  any  other 
person  after  Mary  went  away  was  principally 
that  a  dreadful  murder  was  committed  there 
just  before  Mary  quitted  them.  This,  of  course, 
connected  very  gloomy  associations  with  the 
palace;  and  while  great  numbers  of  persons 
were  eager  to  go  and  see  the  place  where  the 
man  was  killed,  few  would  be  willing  to  live 
there.  The  consequence  has  been,  that  the 
apartments  have  been  vacant  of  occupants 
ever  since,  though  they  are  filled  all  the  time 
with  a  perpetually  flowing  stream  of  visitors. 
The  circumstances  of  the  murder  were  very 
extraordinary.  Mr.  George  explained  the  case 
briefly  to  the  boys  during  their  visit  to  the 
palace,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

On  leaving  the  hotel  they  went  for  a  little 
way  along  Prince's  Street.  On  one  side  of 
the  street  there  was  a  row  of  stores,  hotels, 
and  other  such  buildings,  as  in  Broadway,  in 
New  York.  On  the  other  side  extended  the 
long  and  deep  valley  which  lies  between 
Prince's  Street  and  Castle  Hill.  The  valley 
was  crossed  by  various  bridges,  and  beyond  it 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  143 

were  to  be  seen  the  backs  of  the  lofty  houses 
of  High  Street,  rising  tier  above  tier  to 
a  great  height,  looking,  as  has  already  been 
said,  like  a  range  of  stupendous  cliffs,  lifting 
their  crests  to  the  sky. 

There  were  scarcely  any  buildings  on  the 
valley  side  of  the  street,  except  one  or  two 
edifices  of  an  ornamental  or  public  character. 
One  of  these  was  the  celebrated  monument  to 
Sir  Walter  Scott.  u^ 

The  party  paused  a  short  time  before  this 
monument,  and  then  went  on.  They  passed 
by  one  or  two  bridges  that  led  across  the 
valley,  and  also,  at  one  place,  a  broad  flight  of 
steps,  that  went  down,  with  many  turnings, 
from  landing  to  landing,  to  the  railway 
station  in  the  valley.  At  last  they  came 
to  the  bridge  where  they  were  to  cross 
the  valley.  They  stopped  on  the  middle  of 
the  bridge,  to  look  down.  They  saw  streets 
far  below  them,  and  a  market,  and  trains  of 
railway  carriages  coming  and  going,  and 
beyond,  at  some  distance,  an  extensive  range 
of  pleasure  grounds,  with  ladies  and  gentlemen 
rambling  about  them,  and  groups  of  children 
playing.  These  pleasure  grounds  extended 
some  way  up  the  slope  of  the  Castle  Hill. 
Indeed,  the  upper  walks  lay  close  along  under 
the  foot  of  the  precipices  on  which  the  castle 
walls  were  built  above. 

After  passing  the  bridge,  Mr.  George  and 
the  boys  went  on,  until,  at  length,  they  came 
to  High  Street,  which  is  the  great  central 
street  of  ancient  Edinburgh,  leading  from  the 


144  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

palace  and  abbey  on  the  plain  up  to  the  castle 
on  the  hill.  There,  if  they  had  turned  to  the 
right,  they  would  have  gone  up  to  the  castle ; 
but  they  turned  to  the  left,  and  so  descended 
toward  the  palace,  on  the  plain. 

At  length  they  reached  the  foot  of  the 
descent,  and  then,  at  a  turn  in  the  street,  the 
palace  came  suddenly  into  view. 

There  was  a  broad  paved  area  in  front  of  it. 
In  the  center  of  the  building  was  a  large  arched 
doorway,  with  a  sentry  box  on  each  side.  At 
each  of  these  sentry  boxes  stood  a  soldier  on 
guard.  All  the  royal  palaces  of  England  are 
guarded  thus.  There  was  a  cab,  that  had 
brought  a  company  of  visitors  to  see  the  castle, 
standing  near  the  center  of  the  square,  by  a 
great  statue  that  was  there.  Another  cab 
drove  up  just  at  the  time  that  Mr.  George 
arrived,  and  a  party  of  visitors  got  out  of  it. 
All  the  newcomers  went  in  under  the  archway 
together.  The  soldiers  paid  no  attention  to 
them  whatever. 

.  The  arched  passageway  led  into  a  square 
court,  with  a  piazza  extending  all  around  it. 
The  visitors  turned  to  the  left,  and  walked 
along  under  the  piazza  till  they  came  to  the 
corner,  where  there  was  a  little  office,  and  a 
man  at  the  window  of  it  to  give  them  tickets. 
They  paid  sixpence  apiece  for  their  tickets. 

After  getting  their  tickets  they  walked  on 
under  the  piazza  a  little  way  farther,  till  at 
length  they  came  to  a  door,  and  a  broad  stone 
staircase,  leading  up  into  the  palace,  and  they 
all  went  in  and  began  to  ascend  the  stairs. 


They  came  to  a  broad  stone  staircase." — Page  144. 

Rullo  in  Scotland. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  145 

At  the  head  of  the  stairs  they  passed  through 
a  wide  door,  which  led  into  a  room  where  they 
saw  visitors,  that  had  gone  in  before  them, 
walking  about.  They  were  met  at  the  door 
by  a  well-dressed  man,  who  received  them 
politely,  and  asked  them  to  walk  in. 

"This,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "was  Lord 
Darnley's  audience  chamber.  That,"  he  con- 
tinued, pointing  through  an  open  door  at  the 
side,  "was  his  bedroom;  and  there, "  pointing 
to  another  small  door  on  the  other  side,  "was 
the  |  passageway  leading  up  to  Queen  Mary's 
apartments. ' ' 

Having  said  this,  the  attendant  turned  away 
to  answer  some  questions  asked  him  by  the 
other  visitors,  leaving  Mr.  George  and  the 
boys,  for  the  moment,  to  look  about  the  rooms 
by  themselves. 

The  rooms  were  large,  but  the  interior  fin- 
ishing of  them  was  very  plain.  The  walls 
were  hung  with  antique-looking  pictures.  The 
furniture,  too,  looked  very  ancient  and  ven- 
erable. 

"Who  was  Lord  Darnley?"  asked  Waldron. 

"He  was  Queen  Mary's  husband,"  replied 
Mr.  George. 

"Then  he  was  the  king,  I  suppose,"  said 
Waldron. 

"No,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "not  at  all.  A 
king  is  one  who  inherits  the  throne  in  his  own 
right.  When  the  throne  descends  to  a  woman, 
she  is  the  queen;  but  if  she  marries,  her  hus- 
band does  not  become  king." 

"What  is  he  then?"  said  Waldron. 

10   Scotland 


146  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

"Nothing  but  the  queen's  husband,"  said 
Mr.  George. 

"Hoh!"  exclaimed  Waldron,  in  a  tone  of 
contempt. 

"He  does  not  acquire  any  share  of  the 
queen's  power,"  continued  Mr.  George, 
"because  he  marries  her.  She  is  the  sovereign 
alone  afterward  just  as  much  as  before.  " 

"And  so  I  suppose,"  said  Rollo,  "that  when 
a  king  marries,  the  lady  that  he  marries  does 
not  become  a  queen." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "the  rule  does  not 
seem  to  work  both  ways.  A  lady  who  marries 
a  king  is  always  called  a  queen ;  though,  after 
all,  she  acquires  no  share  of  the  royal  power. 
She  is  a  queen  in  name  only.  But  let  us  hear 
what  this  man  is  explaining  to  the  visitors 
about  the  paintings  and  the  furniture." 

So  they  advanced  to  the  part  of  the  room 
where  the  attendant  was  standing,  with  two  or 
three  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  were  looking 
at  one  of  the  old  pictures  that  were  hanging 
on  the  wall.  It  was  a  picture  of  Queen  Mary 
when  she  was  fifteen  years  old.  The  dress 
was  very  quaint  and  queer,  and  the  picture 
seemed  a  good  deal  faded;  but  the  face  wore  a 
very  sweet  and  charming  expression. 

"I  think  she  was  a  very  pretty  girl,"  whis- 
pered Waldron  in  Rollo's  ear. 

"She  was  in  France  at  that  time,"  said  the 
attendant,  "and  the  picture,  if  it  is  an  original, 
must  have  been  painted  there,  and  she  must 
have  brought  it  with  her  to  Scotland,  on  her 
return   from  that    country.      She  brought  a 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  14? 

great  deal  with  her  on  her  return.  There 
were  several  vessel  loads  of  furniture,  paint- 
ings, etc.  The  tapestry  in  the  bedroom  was 
brought.     It  was  wrought  at  the  Gobelins. ' ' 

Mr.  George  went  into  the  bedroom,  to  look 
at  the  tapestry.  Two  sides  of  the  room  were 
hung  with  it. 

' '  It  looks  like  a  carpet  hung  on  the  walls, ' ' 
said  Waldron. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George;  "a  richly  embroid- 
ered carpet." 

The  figures  on  the  tapestry  consisted  of 
groups  of  horsemen,  elegantly  equipped  and 
caparisoned.  The  horses  were  prancing  about 
in  a  very  spirited  manner.  The  whole  work 
looked  very  dingy,  and  the  colors  were  very 
much  faded ;  but  it  was  evident  that  it  must 
have  been  very  splendid  in  its  day. 

After  looking  at  the  tapestry,  and  at  the 
various  articles  of  quaint  and  queer  old  furni- 
ture in  this  room,  the  company  followed  the 
attendant  into  another  apartment. 

"This,"  said  he,  "is  the  room  where  Lord 
Darnley,  Ruthven,  and  the  rest,  held  their 
consultation  and  formed  their  plans  for  the 
murder  of  Rizzio;  and  there  is  the  door  lead- 
ing to  the  private  stairway  where  they  went 
up.  You  cannot  go  up  that  way  now,  but  you 
will  see  where  they  came  out  above  when  you 
go  up  into  Queen  Mary's  apartments." 

1 '  Let  us  go  now, ' '  said  Waldron. 

"Well/'  said  Mr.  George,  "and  then  we  can 
come  into  these  rooms  again  when  we  come 
down." 


148  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

So  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  walked  back, 
through  Lord  Darnley's  rooms,  to  the  place 
where  they  came  in.  Here  they  saw  that  the 
same  broad  flight  of  stone  stairs,  by  which 
they  had  come  up  from  the  court  below,  con- 
tinued to  ascend  to  the  upper  stories.  There 
was  a  painted  inscription  on  a  board  there,  too, 
saying,  "To  Queen  Mary's  apartments, "  with 
a  hand  pointing  up  the  staircase.  So  they 
knew  that  that  was  the  way  they  must  go. 

As  they  went  up,  both  Rollo  and  Waldron 
asked  Mr.  George  to  explain  to  them  something 
about  the  murder,  so  that  they  might  know  a 
little  what  they  were  going  to  see. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  will.  Let  us 
sit  down  here,  and  I  will  tell  you  as  much  as  I 
can  tell  in  five  minutes.  Really  to  understand 
the  whole  affair,  you  would  have  to  read  as 
much  as  you  could  read  in  a  week.  And  I 
assure  you  it  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  and 
entertaining  story. 

"Darnley,  you  know,  was  the  queen's  hus- 
band. Her  first  husband  was  the  young  Prince 
of  France;  but  he  died  before  Queen  Mary 
came  home.  So  that  when  she  came  home 
she  was  a  widow ;  very  young,  and  exceedingly 
beautiful.  There  is  a  very  beautiful  painting 
of  her,  I  am  told,  in  the  castle." 

"Let  us  go  and  see  it,"  said  Waldron. 

"To-morrow,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"After  Queen  Mary  had  been  in  Scotland 
some  little  time,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "she 
was  married  again  to  this  Lord  Darnley.     He 

as  an  English  prince.     The  whole  story  of 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  149 

her  first  becoming  acquainted  with  Darnley, 
and  how  the  marriage  was  brought  about,  is 
extremely  interesting;  but  I  have  not  time 
now  to  tell  it  to  you. 

"After  they  were  married,  they  lived  to- 
gether for  a  time  very  happily;  but  at  length 
some  causes  of  difficulty  and  dissension  oc- 
curred between  them.  Darnley  was  not  con- 
tented to  be  merely  the  queen's  husband.  He 
wanted,  also,  to  be  king." 

"I  don't  blame  him,"  said  Waldron. 

"I  should  have  thought,"  said  Rollo,  "that 
Mary  would  have  been  willing  that  he  should 
be  king." 

"Very  likely  she  might  have  been  willing 
herself,"  said  Mr.  George,  "but  her  people 
were  not  willing.  There  were  a  great  many 
powerful  nobles  and  chieftains  in  the  king- 
dom, and  about  her  court,  and  they  took  sides, 
one  way  and  the  other,  and  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  trouble.  It  is  a  long  story,  and  I  can't 
tell  you  half  of  it,  now.  What  made  the  matter 
worse  was,  that  Darnley,  finding  he  could  not 
have  everything  his  own  way,  began  to  be  very 
harsh  and  cruel  in  his  treatment  of  Mary. 
This  made  Mary  very  unhappy,  and  caused 
her  to  live  a  great  deal  in  retirement,  with  a 
few  near  and  intimate  friends,  who  treated 
her  with  kindness  and  sympathy. 

"One  of  these  was  David  Rizzio,  the  man 
who  was  murdered.  He  was  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  court.  His  office  was  private 
secretary.  He  was  a  great  deal  older  than 
Mary,  and  it  seems  he   was  an  excellent  man 


150  j[RpLLO  IN'SCOTLAND.* 

for  his  office.  He  used  to  write  for  the  queen 
when  it  was  necessary,  and  perform  other  such 
duties;  and  as  he  was  very  gentle  and  kind  in 
his  disposition,  and  took  a  great  interest  in 
everything  that  concerned  the  queen,  Mary 
became,  at  last,  quite  attached  to  him,  and  con- 
sidered him  as  one  of  her  best  friends.  At 
last  Lord  Darnley  and  his  party  became  very 
jealous  of  him.  They  thought  that  he  had  a 
great  deal  too  much  influence  over  the  queen. 
It  was  as  if  he  were  the  prime  minister,  they 
said,  while  they,  the  old  nobles  of  the  realm, 
were  all  set  aside,  as  if  they  were  of  no  conse- 
quence at  all.    So  they  determined  to  kill  him. 

"They  formed  their  plot  in  the  room  below, 
where  we  have  just  been.  It  was  in  the  eve- 
ning. Mary  was  at  supper  that  night  in  a 
little  room  in  the  tower  up  above,  where  we 
are  now  going.  There  were  two  or  three 
friends  with  her.  The  men  went  up  the  pri- 
vate stairway,  and  burst  into  the  little  supper 
room,  and  killed  Rizzio  on  the  spot." 

"Let  us  go  up  and  see  the  place,"  said  Wal- 
dron. 

So  Mr.  George  rose,  and  followed  by  the 
boys,  he  led  the  way  into  Queen  Mary's  apart- 
ments. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  151 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
queen  mary's  apartments. 

Before  we  follow  Mr.  George  and  the  boys 
into  Queen  Mary's  apartments,  I  have  one  or 
two  other  explanations  to  make,  in  addition 
to  the  information  which  Mr.  George  commu- 
nicated to  the  boys  on  the  stairs.  These  ex- 
planations relate  to  the  situation  of  Mary's 
apartments  in  the  palace.  They  were  in  a  sort 
of  wing,  which  forms  the  extreme  left  of  the 
front  of  the  palace.  The  wing  is  square.  It 
projects  to  the  front.  At  the  two  corners  of  it, 
in  front,  are  two  round  towers,  which  are  sur- 
mounted above  by  short  spires.  As  there  is  a 
similar  wing  at  the  right-hand  end  of  the  front, 
with  similar  towers  at  the  corners,  the  facade 
of  the  building  is  marked  with  four  towers 
and  four  spires. 

Queen  Mary's  rooms  are  in  the  third  story. 
The  principal  room  is  in  the  square  part  of  the 
wing,  between  the  two  round  towers.  This 
was  the  bedroom.  In  the  right-hand  tower  is 
a  small  room,  as  large  as  the  tower  can  contain 
which  was  used  by  Mary  as  an  oratory ;  that 
is,  a  little  chapel  for  her  private  devotions. 
In  the  left-hand  tower  was  another  small 
room,  similar  to  the  oratory,  which  Mary  used 
as  a  private  sitting  room  or  boudoir.     It  is 


152  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

just  large  enough  for  a  window  and  a  fireplace, 
and  for  a  very  few  persons  to  sit.  It  was  in 
this  little  room  that  Mary  was  having  supper, 
with  two  or  three  of  her  friends,  when  Darn- 
ley  and  his  gang  came  up  to  murder  Rizzio, 
who  was  one  among  them. 

Besides  Mary's  bedroom,  which  was  in  the 
front  part  of  the  wing,  between  the  two 
towers,  there  was  another  large  room  behind 
it,  which  also  belonged  to  her.  Darnley  s 
apartments  were  very  similar  to  the  queen's, 
only  they  were  in  the  story  below.  It  was  the 
custom  in  those  days,  as  it  is  now,  indeed,  in 
high  life,  for  the  husband  and  wife  to  have 
separate  ranges  of  apartments,  with  a  private 
passage  connecting  them.  In  this  case  the 
private  passage  leading  from  Darnley's  apart- 
ments to  Mary's  was  in  the  wall.  It  was  a 
narrow  stairway,  leading  up  to  Mary's  bed- 
room, and  the  door  where  it  came  out  was 
very  near  to  the  door  leading  to  the  little 
room  in  the  tower  where  Mary  and  her  friends 
were  taking  supper  on  the  night  of  Rizzio's 
murder. 

When  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  reached  the 
top  of  the  stairs,  they  entered  a  large  room, 
which  they  were  told  by  an  attendant  who 
was  there  to  receive  them,  was  Mary's  audi- 
ence chamber.  This  was  the  room  situated 
back  of  the  bedroom.  The  room  itself,  and 
everything  which  it  contained,  wore  a  very 
antique  and  venerable  appearance.  The 
furniture  was  dilapidated,  and  the  coverings 
of  it  were  worn  and  moth-eaten.      Very  an- 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  153 

cient-looking  pictures  were  hanging  on  the 
walls.  There  was  a  large  fireplace,  with  an 
immense  movable  iron  grate  in  it.  The  grate 
was  almost  entirely  worn  out.  The  attend- 
ant who  showed  these  rooms  said  that  it  was 
the  oldest  grate  in  Scotland.  Still,  it  was  not 
so  old  as  the  time  of  Mary,  for  it  was  brought 
into  Scotland,  the  attendant  said,  by  Charles 
II.,  who  was  Mary's  great-grandson. 

There  was  a  window  in  a  very  deep  recess 
in  this  room.  It  looked  out  upon  a  green 
park,  on  the  side  of  the  palace.  A  very  an- 
cient-looking table  stood  in  this  recess,  which, 
the  attendant  said,  was  brought  by  Mary 
from  France.  The  ceiling  was  carved  and 
ornamented  in  a  very  curious  manner. 

"And  which  is  the  door,"  said  Waldron  to 
the  attendant,  "where  Darnley  and  bis  men 
came  in,  to  murder  Rizzio?" 

"That  is  in  the  next  room,"  said  the  atten- 
dant. So  saying,  he  pointed  to  a  door,  and  Mr. 
George  and  the  boys,  and  also  two  or  three 
other  visitors  whom  they  had  found  in  the 
room  when  they  came  in,  went  forward  and 
entered  the  room. 

"This,  gentlemen  and  ladies, "  said  the  at- 
tendant, as  they  went  in,  'was  Queen  Mary's 
bed  chamber.  The  door  where  we  are  com- 
ing in  was  the  main  or  principal  entrance  to 
it.  This  is  the  bed  and  bedstead,  just  as  they 
were  left  when  Queen  Mary  vacated  the  apart- 
ment. That  door" — pointing  to  a  corner  of 
the  room  diagonally  opposite  to  where  the 
company    had  entered— -"leads    to  the    little 


154  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

boudoir,  where  Rizzio  was  killed,  and  that 
opening  in  the  wall  by  the  side  of  it,  under  the 
tapestry,  is  the  place  where  Darnley  and  the 
other  assassins  came  up  by  the  private  stair." 

The  bedstead  is  on  the  right  of  the  room. 
It  is  surmounted  by  a  heavy  cornice,  richly 
carved  and  gilded.  This  cornice,  and  the  em- 
broidered curtains  that  hang  from  it,  must 
have  been  very  magnificent  in  their  day, 
though  now  they  are  faded  and  tattered  by 
age.  The  coverings  of  the  bed  are  also  greatly 
decayed.  Only  a  little  shred  of  the  blanket 
now  remains,  and  that  is  laid  upon  the  bolster. 
The  rest  of  it  has  been  gradually  carried  away 
by  visitors,  who  for  a  long  time  were  accus- 
tomed to  pull  off  little  shreds  of  it  to  take  with 
them,  as  souvenirs  of  their  visit.  These  dep- 
redations are,  however,  now  no  longer  allowed. 
That  part  of  the  room  is  now  enclosed  by  a 
cord,  fastened  to  iron  rods  fixed  in  the  floor, 
so  that  visitors  cannot  approach  the  bed. 
They  are  watched,  too,  very  closely,  wherever 
they  go  to  prevent  their  taking  anything  away. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  sit  down  in  any  of  the 
chairs. 

The  door  in  the  corner  of  the  room  to  the 
left  leads  into  the  little  boudoir,  or  cabinet, 
where  Rizzio  was  murdered.  Mr.  George  and 
the  boys  went  into  it.  There  was  a  table  on 
the  back  side  of  it,  with  the  armor,  and  also 
the  gloves,  and  one  of  the  boots  which  Darnley 
wore,  lying  upon  it.  The  attendant  took  up 
a  breastplate,  which  formed  a  part  of  the 
armor,  and  let  the  boys  lift  it.      It  was  very 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  155 

heavy.  There  was  an  identation  in  the  front 
of  it,  where  it  had  been  struck  by  a  bullet. 
The  boot,  too,  was  prodigiously  thick  and 
heavy.  The  heel  was  not  less  than  three 
inches  high. 

There  was  a  fireplace  in  this  room,  and  over 
it  was  an  altar-piece ;  a  sort  of  picture  in  stone, 
which  Mary  used  in  her  oratory,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  Catholics.  It  had  been 
broken  to  pieces  and  put  together  again.  It 
was  said  that  John  Knox  broke  it,  to  show  his 
abhorrence  of  Popery,  but  that  the  pieces  were 
saved,  and  it  was  afterward  mended. 

There  was  also  in  this  room  a  square  stone, 
shaped  like  a  block,  about  two  feet  long,  sawed 
off  from  the  end  of  a  beam  of  timber.  This 
was  the  stone  that  Mary  knelt  upon  when  she 
was  crowned  Queen  of  Scotland. 
.  To  the  right  of  the  door  which  leads  to  the 
boudoir,  under  the  tapestry,  is  an  opening  in 
the  wall  which  leads  to  the  staircase  where  the 
conspirators  came  up.  The  boys  went  in  here 
and  looked  down.  The  stairs  were  very  nar- 
row, and  very  dark.  The  passage  was  closed 
below,  so  that  they  could  not  go  down.  In 
Mary's  time  these  stairs  not  only  led  down  to 
Darnley's  rooms,  but  there  was  a  continuation 
of  them  down  the  lower  story,  and  thence 
along  by  a  private  way  to  Mary's  place  in  the 
chapel  of  the  monastery,  where  she  used  to  go 
to  attend  divine  service.  She  always  went  by 
this  private  way,  so  that  nobody  ever  saw  her 
go  or  come.  They  only  knew  that  sh^e  was 
there  by  seeing  the  curtains  drawn  before  the 


156  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

little  compartment  in  the  walls  of  the  chapel 
where  she  was  accustomed  to  sit. 

In  the  deep  recess  of  the  window  was  a  tall 
stand,  with  a  sort  of  basket  on  the  top  of  it. 
This  basket  contained  baby  linen,  and  was  sent 
to  Mary  as  a  present  by  Queen  Elizabeth  of 
England,  at  the  time  when  Mary's  child  was 
born.  This  was  the  child  that  afterward 
became  King  James.  He  was  not  born  here, 
however.  He  was  born  in  the  castle.  His 
birth  took  place  only  about  three  months  after 
the  murder  of  Rizzio.  The  basket  was  a  very 
pretty  one,  and  it  was  lined  with  the  most 
costly  lace,  only  a  few  remnants  of  which  are, 
however,  remaining. 

The  attendant  showed  all  these  things  to  the 
visitors,  and  many  more,  which  I  have  not  time 
now  to  describe.  Among  the  rest  was  a  piece 
of  embroidery  set  in  the  top  of  a  workbox, 
which  Mary  herself  worked.  The  top  of  the 
box  was  formed  of  a  plate  of  glass;  the 
embroidery  was  placed  underneath  it,  so  that 
it  could  be  seen  through  the  glass.  It  was  old 
and  faded,  and  the  boys  did  not  think  that  it 
was  very  pretty.  It  was,  however,  curious 
to  see  it,  since  Mary  had  worked  it  with  her 
own  hands;  especially  as  she  did  it  when  she 
was  a  child ;  for  the  guide  said  she  embroid- 
ered it  when  she  was  only  about  twelve  years 
old. 

"She  was  very  skillful  with  her  needle,"  said 
the  attendant.  "She  learned  the  art  in  France, 
at  the  convent  where  she  was  educated.  This 
tapestry    which    hangs    upon    the    wall    was 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  157 

worked  by  the  nuns  at  that  convent,  and  it  is 
said  that  Mary  assisted  them. ' ' 

Besides  the  bedroom  and  the  boudoir,  there 
was  the  oratory,  too ;  that  is,  the  small  room  cor- 
responding to  the  boudoir,  in  the  other  round 
tower.  It  was  a  very  small  room,  like  a 
round  closet,  with  a  window  in  it.  It  con- 
tained very  little  furniture.  There  were  two 
tall,  carved  stands,  to  hold  the  candlesticks,  on 
each  side  of  the  altar,  and  several  very  ancient- 
looking  chairs.  There  was  also  a  small  and 
very  peculiar-shaped  old  mirror  hanging  upon 
the  wall.  It  had  no  frame,  but  the  glass  itself 
was  cut  into  an  ornamental  form  This  mirror 
was  a  great  curiosity,  it  must  be  confessed ;  but 
it  was  past  performing  any  useful  function,  for 
the  silver  was  worn  off  to  such  an  extent  that 
it  was  very  difficult  to  see  one's  face  in  it. 

After  looking  some  time  longer  at  Queen 
Mary's  rooms,  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  went 
back  again  to  Lord  Darnley's  apartments 
below.  There  they  saw  a  picture  of  Queen 
Mary  which  they  had  not  observed  before.  It 
represented  her,  the  man  said,  in  the  dress  she 
wore  the  day  that  she  was  beheaded.  The 
dress  was  of  dark  silk  or  velvet,  plain,  but  very 
rich.  It  fitted  close  to  the  form,  and  came  up 
high  in  the  neck.  The  countenance  evinced 
the  changes  produced  by  time  and  grief,  but  it 
wore  the  same  sweet  expression  that  was  seen 
in  the  portrait  painted  in  her  earlier  years. 

"What  was  she  beheaded  for?"  asked  Rollo, 
while  they  were  looking  at  this  portrait. 

"She  was  beheaded  by  the  government  of 


158  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

Queen  Elizabeth  of  England,"  replied  Mr. 
George.  "They  charged  her  with  forming 
plots  to  dethrone  Elizabeth,  and  make  herself 
Queen  of  England  in  her  place." 

"And  did  she  really  form  the  plots?"  asked 
Waldron. 

"Why — yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  speaking, 
however,  in  a  somewhat  doubtful  tone,  "yes 
— I  suppose  she  did ;  or,  at  least  her  friends 
and  party  did;  she  herself  consenting.  You 
see  she  was  herself  descended  from  an  English 
king,  just  as  Elizabeth  was,  and  it  was 
extremely  doubtful  which  was  the  rightful 
heir  Mary,  and  all  her  friends  and  party, 
claimed  that  she  was;  and  Elizabeth,  on  the 
other  hand,  insisted  that  her  claim  was  clear 
and  unquestionable." 

"Which  was  right?"  asked  Waldron. 

" It  is  impossible  to  say, ' '  replied  Mr.  George. 
44  It  was  such  a  complicated  case  that  you  could 
not  decide  it  either  way.  The  question  was 
like  a  piece  of  changeable  silk.  You  could 
make  it  look  green  or  brown,  just  according  to 
the  way  you  looked  at  it.  When  you  come  to 
read  the  history  you  will  see  just  how  it  was." 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "I  mean  to  read  all 
about  it.'* 

"After  the  difficulties  in  Scotland,"  contin- 
ued Mr.  George,  "Mary's  armies  were  driven 
across  the  line  into  England,  and  there  Mary 
was  seized  and  made  prisoner.  Elizabeth 
woul  .1  have  given  her  her  liberty  if  she  would 
have  renounced  her  claims  to  the  English 
crown— but  this  Mary  would  not  do.     She  was 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  159 

kept  in  prison  a  number  of  years.  At  last 
some  of  her  friends  began  to  form  plots  to  get 
her  out,  and  make  her  Queen  of  England. 
She  was  accused  of  joining  in  these  plots,  and 
so  she  was  tried,  convicted,  and  beheaded." 

"And  did  she  really  join  in  the  plots?"  asked 
Waldron. 

"I  presume  so^"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  would 
have  joined  in  them  if  I  had  been  in  her  place. ' ' 

"So  would  I,"  said  Waldron. 

"Did  Queen  Elizabeth  order  her  to  be  be- 
headed?" asked  Rollo. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "not  directly — or, 
at  least,  she  pretended  that  she  did  not.  She 
appointed  some  judges  to  go  and  try  her,  on 
the  charge  of  treason,  and  the  judges  con- 
demned her  to  death.  Elizabeth  might  have 
saved  her  if  she  chose,  but  she  did  not ;  though 
afterward,  when  she  heard  that  Mary  had 
been  executed,  she  pretended  to  be  in  a  great 
rage  with  those  who  had  carried  the  sentence 
into  effect,  and  to  be  deeply  grieved  at  her 
cousin's  death." 

"The  old  hag!"  said  Waldron. 

"Why,  no,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  don't  know 
that  we  ought  to  consider  her  an  old  hag  for 
this.  It  was  human  nature,  that  is  all.  She 
may  have  been  sincere  in  her  grief  at  Mary's 
death,  while  yet  she  consented  to  it,  and  even 
desired  it,  beforehand.  We  often  wish  to  have 
a  thing  done,  and  yet  are  very  sorry  for  it  after 
it  is  done. 

"You  see,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "Queen 
Elizabeth    was  a  very  proud  and  ambitious 


160  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

woman.  She  was  very  fond  of  the  power,  and 
also  of  the  pomp  and  parade  of  royalty ;  and 
she  could  not  endure  that  any  one  should  ever 
question  her  claim  to  the  crown." 

"Well,"  said  Waldron,  "at  any  rate  I  ata 
sorry  for  poor  Mary. ' ' 

After  this,  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  went 
down  the  staircase  where  they  had  come  up, 
to  the  court,  and  then  proceeding  along  the 
piazza  to  the  back  corner  of  it,  they  passed 
through  an  open  door  that  led  them  to  the 
ruins  of  the  old  abbey,  which  stood  on  this  spot 
some  centuries  before  the  palace  was  built. 
There  was  nothing  left  of  this  ancient  edifice 
but  the  walls,  and  some  of  the  pillars  of  the 
chapel.  The  roof  was  gone,  and  everything 
was  in  a  state  of  dilapidation  and  ruin. 

There  was  a  guide  there  who  pointed  out  the 
place  where  Mary  stood  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage  with  Lord  Darnley.  The  grass  was 
growing  on  the  spot,  and  above,  all  was  open 
to  the  sky.  Multitudes  of  birds  were  flying 
about,  and  chirping  mournfully  around  the 
naked  and  crumbing  walls. 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  161 


CHAPTER  XV. 


EDINBURGH   CASTLE. 


The  day  after  the  visit  which  the  party  made 
to  the  palace,  they  set  out  from  their  hotel  to 
go  to  the  castle.  As  they  were  walking  along 
together  on  the  sidewalk  of  Prince's  Street,  on 
a  sudden  Waldron  darted  off  from  Rollo's  side, 
and  ran  into  the  street,  in  pursuit  of  a  cab, 
which  had  just  gone  by.  He  soon  overtook  the 
cab  and  climbed  up  behind  it;  and  then,  to 
Mr.  George's  utter  amazement,  he  reached 
forward  along  the  side  of  the  vehicle,  so  as  to 
look  into  the  window  of  it,  and  knocked  on  the 
glass.  In  a  moment  the  cab  stopped,  the  door 
opened,  and  the  mystery  of  the  case  was 
explained  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  by  seeing 
Waldron 's  father  looking  out  at  it. 

"It  is  his  father!"  said  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  " But  that  is  not 
the  proper  way  for  a  boy  to  stop  his  father, 
riding  by  in  a  cab,  in  the  streets  of  Edin- 
burgh." 

The  cab  drove  up  to  the  sidewalk,  and  then 
Mr.  Kennedy  got  out  to  speak  to  Mr.  George. 
He  said  that  he  had  received  letters  from 
America,  making  it  necessary  for  him  to  set 
sail  immediately  for  home.  He  had  intended;, 
he  added,  to  have  remained  two  or  three  weeks 

11   Scotland 


162  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

longer  in  Scotland ;  and  in  that  case  he  should 
have  liked  very  much  to  have  continued  Wal- 
dron  under  Mr.  George's  care. 

"And  now,"  he  added,  turning  to  Waldron, 
"which  would  you  rather  do — go  home  to 
America  with  me,  or  stay  here,  and  travel  with 
Mr.  George?" 

Waldron  looked  quite  perplexed  at  this  pro- 
posal. He  said  that  he  liked  very  much  to 
travel  with  Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  and  yet  he 
wanted  very  much  indeed  to  go  home. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  various  debates  and 
consultations  were  held,  and  it  was  finally 
decided  that  Waldron  should  go  home.  So  the 
accounts  were  settled  with  Mr.  George,  and 
Waldron  was  transferred  to  the  hotel  where  his 
father  and  mother  were  lodging.  They  were 
to  set  out  the  next  morning  in  the  express 
train  for  Liverpool.  The  preparations  for  the 
journey  and  the  voyage  kept  Waldron  busy  all 
that  day,  so  that  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  went 
to  the  castle  alone.  But  Waldron  made  Rollo 
promise  that  in  the  evening  he  would  come  to 
the  hotel  and  see  him,  and  tell  him  what  he 
saw  there. 

In  the  evening,  accordingly,  Rollo  went  to 
the  hotel  where  Mr.  Kennedy  was  staying. 
Mr.  George  went  with  him.  They  went  first 
into  Mr.  Kennedy's  parlor.  A  door  was  open 
between  the  parlor  and  one  of  the  bedrooms, 
and  both  rooms  were  full  of  trunks  and  parcels. 
Everybody  was  busy  packing  and  arranging. 
The  ladies  were  showing  each  other  their 
different  purchases,  as  they  came  in  from  the 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  163 

shops;  and  as  soon  as  Mr.  George  entered, 
they  began  to  ask  him  whether  he  thought  they 
would  be  obliged  to  pay  duty  on  this,  or  on 
that,  when  they  arrived  in  America. 

Rollo  asked  where  Waldron  was,  and  they 
said  he  was  in  his  room,  packing  his  trunk. 
So  Rollo  went  to  find  him. 

"Ah,  Rollo,"  said  Waldron,  "I  am  glad  you 
have  come.  I  want  you  to  sit  on  the  top  of 
my  trunk  with  me,  and  make  it  shut  down. ' ' 

Rollo  gave  Waldron  the  assistance  he 
required,  and  by  the  conjoined  gravity  of  both 
boys  the  trunk  was  made  to  shut.  Waldron 
turned  the  key  in  an  instant,  and  then  said. — 

"There!  Get  open  again  if  you  can.  And 
now,  Rollo,"  he  continued,  "tell  me  about 
the  castle." 

"Well,  we  had  a  very  good  time  visiting  it," 
said  Rollo.  "We  went  over  the  bridge  where 
you  and  I  stopped  to  look  down  to  the  market, 
and  came  to  High  Street.  But  instead  of  turn- 
ing down,  as  we  did  when  we  were  going  to 
Holyrood,  we  turned  up ;  because,  you  know, 
the  castle  is  on  the  top  of  the  hill." 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron,  "I  knew  that  was  the 
way." 

"Well,  we  went  up  High  Street,"  continued 
Rollo.  "The  upper  part  of  it  is  quite  a  hand- 
some street.  There  were  a  great  many  large 
public  buildings.  We  passed  by  a  great  cathe- 
dral, where,  they  said,  a  woman  threw  a  stool 
at  the  minister,  while  he  was  preaching. 

"What  did  she  do  that  for?"  asked  Waldron. 

4 '  I  don '  t  know,  "said  Rollo.     4 '  I  suppose  she 


164  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

did  not  like  his  preaching.  It  was  in  the 
reformation  times.  I  believe  he  was  preaching 
Popery,  and  she  was  a  Protestant.  Her  name 
was  Jenny  Geddes.  They  have  got  the  stool 
now." 

"They  have?"  exclaimed  Waldron. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "so  uncle  George  said. 
They  keep  it  in  the  Antiquarian  Museum,  for 
a  curiosity." 

"When  we  got  to  the  upper  end  of  the  High 
Street,"  continued  Rollo,  "there  was  the  castle 
all  before  us.  Only  first  there  was  a  parade 
ground  for  the  troops;  it  was  all  graveled 
over." 

"Were  there  any  soldiers  there?"  asked  Wal- 
dron. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "there  were  two  or  three 
companies  drilling  and  parading. ' ' 

"I  should  like  to  have  seen  them,"  said 
Waldron. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "and  besides,  the  parade 
ground  was  a  splendid  place.  The  lower  end 
of  it  was  toward  the  street ;  the  upper  end  was 
toward  the  gates  and  walls  of  the  castle,  and 
the  two  sides  of  it  were  shut  in  by  a  low  wall, 
built  on  the  very  brink  of  the  precipice.  You 
could  look  down  over  this  wall  into  the  streets 
of  the  lower  part  of  the  town ;  and  then  we 
could  see  off  a  great  way,  over  all  the  country. 

"We  stopped  a  little  while  to  look  at  the 
view,  and  then  we  turned  round  and  looked  at 
the  soldiers  a  little  while  longer,  and  then  we 
went  on.  Presently  we  came  to  the  castle 
gates.      There  was  a  sentinel  on  guard,  and 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  165 

some  soldiers  walking  to  and  fro  on  the  ram- 
parts above ;  but  they  did  not  say  anything  to 
us,  and  so  we  went  in.  There  were  other 
parties  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  going  in,  too. ' ' 

"Well,"  said  Waldron,  4,what  did  you  see 
when  you  got  in?" 

"Why,  we  were  yet  only  inside  the  walls," 
said  Rollo,  "and  so  we  kept  going  on  up  a 
steep  road  paved  with  stones.  There  were 
walls,  and  towers,  and  battlements,  and  bas- 
tions, and  soldiers  walking  sentry,  and  cannons 
pointed  at  us,  all  around.  Presently  we  came 
to  a  sort  of  bridge.  Here  we  heard  some 
music.  It  seemed  down  below;  so  we  went  to 
the  side  of  the  bridge  and  looked  over.  There 
was  a  little  square  field  below,  and  three  men, 
with  Scotch  bagpipes,  playing  together.  The 
men  were  dressed  in  uniform,  and  the  bagpipes 
were  splendid-looking  instruments." 

"Yes,"  said  Waldron.  "They  were  the 
musicians  of  some  Highland  regiment,  prac- 
ticing. " 

"Well,  we  went  on,  higher  and  higher,"  said 
Rollo,  "and  continued  going  round  and  round, 
till,  at  last,  we  came  to  the  upper  part  of  the 
castle,  where  there  were  platforms,  and  can- 
nons upon  them,  pointing  out  over  all  the 
country  round  about." 

"Did  you  see  Mons  Meg?"  asked  Waldron. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "and  we  went  up  close 
to  it.  But  we  did  not  touch  it,  for  there  was  a 
notice  put  up  that  visitors  must  not  touch  the 
guns, 

"By  and  by  we  came  into  a  large  square 


166  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 

court,  with  buildings,  that  looked  like  barracks, 
all  about  it.  There  was  a  sign  up,  with  a  hand 
on  it  pointing,  and  the  words,  "To  the  crown 
room. '  So  we  knew  that  that  was  the  place 
where  we  were  to  go.  Besides,  all  the  other 
ladies  and  gentlemen  were  going  there,  too. 

41  We  gave  up  our  tickets  at  the  door,  and 
went  up  a  short  flight  of  steps,  into  a  little  sort 
of  cellar." 

"A  little  sort  of  cellar!"  exclaimed  Waldron. 
He  was  surprised  at  the  idea  of  going  upstairs 
into  a  cellar. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "It  was  just  like  a  cel- 
lar. It  had  stone  walls  all  around  it,  and  was 
arched  overhead." 

"Was  it  dark?"  asked  Waldron. 

"O,  no,"  said  Rollo;  "it  was  lighted  up 
splendidly  with  gas.  The  gas  shone  very 
bright  in  between  the  bars  of  the  cage,  and 
brightened  up  the  crown  and  the  jewels  won- 
derfully." 

"In  the  cage?"  repeated  Waldron;  "was 
there  a  cage?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Rollo.  "In  the  middle  of 
the  room  there  was  a  great  iron  cage,  as  high 
as  my  head,  and  big  in  proportion.  The  crown 
and  the  jewels  were  in  the  cage,  on  cushions. 
They  were  so  far  in  that  people  could  not  reach 
them  by  putting  their  hands  through  the  bars. 
There  were  a  great  many  persons  standing  al? 
around  the  cage,  and  looking  in  to  see  the 
crown  and  the  jewels." 

"Were  they  pretty?"  asked  Waldron. 

"Not  very,"  said  Rollo.      "I  suppose  the 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  167 

things  were  made  of  gold ;  but  I  could  not  tell, 
from  the  looks  of  them,  whether  they  were 
made  of  gold  or  brass." 

"Was  there  anything  else?"  asked  Waldron. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "there  was  a  monstrous 
oak  chest, — iron  bound,  or  brass  bound, — 
where  the  crown  and  jewels  were  hid  away  for 
a  great  many  years.  At  the  time  when  Scot- 
land was  united  to  England,  they  put  these 
things  in  this  chest ;  and  they  were  left  there 
so  long  that  at  last  there  was  nobody  that  knew 
where  they  were.  Finally  the  government 
began  to  look  for  them,  and  they  looked  in  this 
old  chest,  and  there  they  found  them. 

"While  we  were  looking  at  the  chest,"  con- 
tinued Rollo,  ' '  I  heard  some  music  out  in  the 
court,  and  I  asked  uncle  George  to  let  me  go 
out ;  and  he  did.  I  was  very  glad  I  did,  for 
the  Highland  regiment  was  paraded  in  the 
court.  I  stood  there  some  time  to  see  them 
exercised." 

"Did  they  look  well?"  asked  Waldron. 

"Beautifully,"  said  Rollo. 

After  this,  Rollo  gave  Waldron  some  further 
accounts  of  what  he  saw  at  the  castle;  but 
before  he  got  quite  through  with  his  descrip- 
tions Mr.  George  came,  and  said  it  was  time 
for  them  to  go  home.  So  they  both  bade  Wal- 
dron good-by.  Rollo  said,  however,  that  it 
was  not  his  final  good-by. 

"I  shall  come  down  to  the  station  to-morrow 
morning,"  said  he,  "and  see  you  go." 

Waldron  was  very  much  pleased  to  hear  this, 
and  then  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  went  away. 


168  ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  made  some  excursions 
together  after  this,  but  I  have  not  time  to  give 
a  full  account  of  them.  Among  others,  they 
went  to  see  Linlithgow,  where  stands  the  ruin 
of  an  ancient  palace,  which  was  the  one  in 
which  Queen  Mary  was  born.  Linlithgow 
itself  is  a  town.  Near  it  is  a  pretty  little  loch. 
The  ruins  stand  on  a  smooth  and  beautiful 
lawn,  between  the  town  and  the  shore  of  the 
loch.  The  people  who  lived  in  the  palace  had 
delightful  views  from  their  windows,  both  of 
the  water  of  the  loch  itself  and  of  the  opposite 
shores. 

At  this  ruin  people  can  go  up  by  the  old 
staircases  to  various  rooms  in  the  upper  stories, 
and  even  to  the  top  of  the  walls.  The  floors, 
wherever  the  floors  remain,  are  covered  with 
grass  and  weeds. 

There  was  a  very  curious  story  about  the 
castle.  It  was  taken  at  one  time  by  means  of 
a  load  of  hay.  The  enemy  engaged  a  farmer 
who  lived  near,  and  who  was  accustomed  to 
supply  the  people  of  the  castle  with  hay,  to 
join  them  in  their  plot.  So  they  put  some 
armed  men  on  his  cart,  and  covered  them  all 
over  with  hay.      They  also  concealed  some 


ROLLO  IN  SCOTLAND.  169 

more  armed  men  near  the  gateway.  The  gate- 
way had  what  is  called  a  portcullis;  that  is,  a 
heavy  iron  gate  suspended  by  chains,  so  as  to 
rise  and  fall.  Of  course,  when  the  portcullis 
was  down,  nobody  could  get  in  or  out. 

The  people  of  the  castle  hoisted  the  port- 
cullis, to  let  the  load  of  hay  come  in,  and  the 
farmer,  as  soon  as  he  had  got  the  wagon  in  the 
middle  of  the  gateway,  stopped  it  there,  and 
cut  the  traces,  so  that  it  could  not  be  drawn 
any  farther.  At  the  same  instant  the  men 
who  were  hid  under  the  hay  jumped  out,  killed 
the  guard  at  the  gates,  called  out  to  the  other 
men  who  were  in  ambush,  and  they  all  poured 
into  the  castle  together,  crowding  by  at  the 
sides  of  the  wagon.  The  wagon,  being  directly 
in  the  way,  prevented  the  portcullis  from  being 
shut  down.     Thus  the  castle  was  taken, 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  also  went  to  visit  Mel- 
rose Abbey,  which  is  a  very  beautiful  ruin  ia 
the  south  part  of  Scotland.  While  they  were 
there  they  visited  Abbotsford,  too,  which  is  the 
house  that  Walter  Scott  lived  in.  Walter 
Scott  amused  himself,  during  his  lifetime,  in 
collecting  a  great  many  objects  of  interest  con- 
nected with  Scottish  history,  and  putting  them 
up  in  his  house;  and  now  the  place  is  a  perfect 
museum  of  Scottish  antiquities  and  curiosities. 

Melrose  and  Abbotsford  are  in  the  southern 
part  of  Scotland,  not  very  far  from  the  English 
frontier.  After  visiting  them,  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  proceeded  by  the  railway  to  Berwick, 
which  stands  on  the  boundary  line;  and  there 
they  bade  Scotland  farewell. 


Date  Due 


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